LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf JLtiU. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



From a Forest 



To a City. . 



Personal Reminiscences of Syracuse, N. Y. 



BY 



OCT 211889.; 



M". C. HAND- 






GTO^' 



SYRACUSE, N. Y.: 

MASTERS & STONE, PRINTERS. 
1889. 









COPYRIGHTED 
1889 
—BY— 

M. C. HAND. 



FROM A FOREST TO A CITY. 



More than half a century ago I reached that period in 
life common to most young men when it seems best to 
leave the parental home and start out on the broad earth 
in search of the place that destiny has decided we should 
make home for ourselves. I had never prepared myself 
for any particular pursuit. My school advantages had 
been, perhaps, a little better than many of my early as- 
sociates. There seemed no calling nor locality that 
beckoned to me as offering place and opportunity. I 
bade farewell to the home of my childhood in one of the 
north eastern counties of this state. I seemed like a 
piece of drift wood carried along by the tide of circum- 
stances to what destination I knew not. I soon found 
myself moving slowly westward on a canal boat, then the 
most common mode of travel through the state. Dark for- 
ests and swamps were almost continuous with occasional 
clearings of a few acres with cheap structures filled with 
boatmen's supplies. After traveling for hours through an 
unusually gloomy cedar swamp we came to a place 
called Lodi. There was a small flouring mill built of stone 
on the south side of the canal, our boat stopped here in 
search of freight. Seeing the spires of two little churches 
a mile west, I stepped off the north side and walked 
along through a thick growth of cedar until I came to 



FROM A FOREST 



the Oswego canal. There was not a house to be seen 
where Canal street is now located. When I came to 
Salina street I left the tow path and crossed over to the 
south side of the bridge, where I obtained my first view 
of the streets of the little village of Syracuse. Of the 
several streets that diverged from near Salina street 
bridge, I could not decide which to take, as I had noth- 
ing to call me in either direction. It was a warm pleas- 
ant day in October, and for more than an hour I stood 
still and surveyed the prospect before me. The build- 
ings that lined the streets were unattractive, no better 
than other country villages in those days, wooden build- 
ings largely predominating. The two wide streets Salina 
and Genesee crossing each other where I stood, gave the 
little town an airy appearance. On the west side of 
Salina street where the Globe Hotel is now, was a row 
of one and a half and two story wooden dwellings, nearly 
all painted white with green blinds, each lot sur- 
rounded with a picket fence ; the green lawn and shrub- 
bery in front of these neat little homes giving them an air 
of cheerfulness and comfort. On the north-east corner 
of Salina and Fayette streets the present site of McCar- 
thy's store, there was a church built after the architecture 
of those days, painted white with outside green blinds 
running up to a point. There were brick side walks, over 
some of which sign boards were placed which read " five 
dollars fine for any person driving or leading a horse 
on any sidewalk in this village." This seemed to a 
stranger, evidence of a neat and orderly people. What 
claimed my notice more than anything else, was the ac- 
tivity of those I saw on the street. Every man moved 



TO A CITY. 5 

as though he had just heard that his house was on fire. 
This energy impressed me most favorably with the 
place and its people. The hills of the surrounding coun- 
try were not hiddden by lofty buildings, and clothed in 
the variegated hues of autumn, added much to the beauty 
of the landscape before me. I felt a growing attachment 
to the little place, and taking an inventory of my pockets, 
found an old crown dollar, and several small pieces of 
silver with bars on one side and a medallion on the other, 
worth twelve and one half cents, (this currency long since 
passed out of circulation). My cash amounted to two 
dollars, a doubtful capital to resume my journey with. 
I had not yet exchanged a word with any citizen. As I 
was reflecting what was best to do, a short thick-set man, 
past the meridian of life, stopped near me to look at a 
passing canal boat. He was the first man I had seen, who 
did not appear to be in a hurry. He took from his pock- 
et a snuffbox and applied a liberal pinch to his nose, 
with evident satisfaction. Our eyes met, he noticed that 
I was closely observing him, he handed his snuff box 
towards me and said, "Will you have a pinch young 
man ? I thanked him for his courtesy, and replied that I 
was more in need of advice, that I had come to a stand- 
still was a stranger without money, and in search of some 
locality where I could spend the energies of my life with 
a fair chance of a reasonable compensation. The kind- 
ness of his nature led him to be interested in my welfare. 
He advised me to look no farther, that young energetic 
men were needed here, as it was the opinion of the best 
men of the village that it would grow to be a city. This 
opinion was based on its natural advantages, as it was 



6 FROM A FOREST 

nearly the center of the state, with inexhaustable salt 
springs. His advice was to go to work here and help 
build up the place, and invest every dollar in real estate, 
that the rise of property would increase with my years. 
He gave me his name, and pointed out a little white 
house standing near the site of the Baptist church on 
West Genesee street, as his home, and said if he could 
help me by further advice any time he would do so if I 
would call on him. These few words so comforting to 
me cost him nothing. A half of a hundred years have 
passed by since they were spoken and every muscle and 
bone of his body has crumbled to dust. His kind words 
are as fresh in my memory as the hour in which he ut- 
tered them, and they are firmly impressed upon the minds 
of my family not to be forgotten so long as their lives last, 
thus proving the truth of the little song, 

" Kind words will never die, no never die." 

I followed his advice and with little difficulty found 
employment as clerk for the fall and winter in a store 
situated where the Court house now stands. I became 
acquainted with the original settlers and gained from 
them a knowledge of the early history of the place. 
Since that time more than fifty years have left their ex- 
periences with me, and their changes in the place, and 
sometimes when walking along our streets in a reflective 
mood, my feelings are beyond description, contemplat- 
ing the great changes that have taken place, and seldom if 
ever do I see the face of one that was a middle aged man 
at that time. They, with their unpretentious homes 
only exist in memory. Few men are left in Syracuse who 



TO A CITY. 



have personal recollections of its early history, and these 
year by year are growing less. 

Mr. Clark in his History of the county only gives the 
same space to Syracuse that he does to other towns. Mr. 
Clayton in his new History of the county should have de- 
voted a liberal space to Syracuse, but instead he has 
copied largely from Mr. Clark with but little additional 
matter. This is to be regretted as it would seem that 
his book might have been greatly enchanced in value by 
such a course. It was hoped and expected that Mr. 
Leavenworth would have given us a detailed account of 
the early history of our town. He was without doubt 
thoroughly familiar with the subject. Probably a large 
majority of the citizens of Syracuse have but little know- 
ledge of its history. It should be interesting to every 
citizen to trace the progress of Syracuse through its pe- 
riods of development from a mere hamlet to a flourishing 
city. For many years I took an active part in the com- 
pletion of many of the buildings that form the central 
portion of the town, and was acquainted with all the 
principal builders until the population was sixty thousand. 

It is only designed to give a history of many of the 
most important events occurring within the original 
boundaries of the village of Syracuse for a period of near- 
ly half a century. According to the title of this book my 
task is completed when Syracuse is chartered a city. My 
reminiscences will comprise short personal sketches of 
some of the early settlers and a description of their simple 
unpretentious homes, tracing Syracuse through its various 
periods of development from a forest to a city. Many 



8 



FROM A FOREST 



citizens now living in the fifth, seventh and eighth wards, 
will remember that a large portion of these localities were 
but little more than farming lands in 1848. 



EARLY HISTORY. 

In the year eighteen hundred the now central portion 
of Syracuse was a dense forest, covered by a thick growth 
of cedar, with here and there patches of higher ground 
covered with stately pines, and other varieties of forest 
trees. This was a continuance of the vast forest that 
stretched from the Adirondacks on the north to the pine 
forests of Pennsylvania. A hundred years ago the forest 
was cut by a few continuous roads, with here and there 
small clearings, peopled by pioneers from the eastern 
states, and where good water power was found small vil- 
lages sometimes sprang into existance. The streams 
were filled with salmon and trout and wild game abound- 
ed. So plenty were the wild animals in the forest where 
Syracuse now stands that a trading boat from Albany 
made a trip spring and fall loaded with goods to ex- 
change for furs and live bears, deers, and wolves and re- 
turned to Albany where the trader found market for 
these wild animals. The route traveled was by an old 
water way from tide water up the Mohawk to Rome, 
where a short portage was made to Wood creek, via. 
Oneida lake and Seneca river to Onondaga lake. The 
first white man who made this journey was said to be 
W. Greenhalgh in 1677. In the year 1788 Asa Danforth, 
with a few others, located at Onondaga Valley, and in 



TO A CITY. 9 

1803, there were eight frame and several log houses, a 
post office established, and court was held there. In 
1800 there were fifty-eight inhabitants at Salina mostly- 
engaged in manufacturing salt. Thus we see at these 
two points there was a nucleus of a village, while between 
the two where the center of the city is now, was an un- 
broken forest. The State by treaty with the Onondagas, 
held at Fort Stanwix a few years before the close of the 
last century, had acquired a title to a tract of this forest. 
In the year 1804 two hundred and fifty acres, the now 
central portion of Syracuse, was sold to Abram Walton. 
The proceeds of the sale were to be expended in building 
the Genesee turnpike through this section. On the 4th, of 
July 1817 amid the roar of cannon from the Arsenal at 
Rome, N. Y., the first shovelful of earth was raised 
from the ground by Judge Richardson as a commence- 
ment of the Erie canal, and soon after Elias Gramaer 
made a commencement in this county. The large num- 
ber of laboring men that were called here to perform this 
great work, remained as permanent residents, as they be- 
lieved that labor would be in demand in some branch of 
salt manufacturing. These new comers built themselves 
houses along the line of the canal, using slabs from the saw 
mill located here where good pine slabs could be bought 
for one cent apiece. For a few dollars, and three or four 
days work, a comfortable house could be built. It was 
surprising how comfortable these houses could be made 
(and comfort only was considered). A whole slab was 
used as a batten, the bark removed, the edges were thin, 



10 FROM A FOREST 

and with plenty of nails could be made nearly air tight ; 
and the same material made a good roof. 

April 20th, 1820 the first boat made its appearance 
here, a small craft named the " Montezuma," from 
a place of the same name. This was the first great event 
in the place, it had been extensively advertised, and 
nearly every inhabitant for many miles around had gath- 
ered on the banks of the canal, anxious to see the great 
sight. The large crowd that had been standing for 
hours, became impatient ; from the first, there were many 
who believed the scheme was not practicable, and this 
faction was well represented in the assembled crowd, and 
many who had been standing expectantly for hours be- 
came tired and joined the doubters, who were shouting 
that " to-morrow you will hear that the " Montezuma" 
bumped her nose against the bank, and sunk before she 
had floated a mile, and we wish old Clinton had gone 
down with her, and sunk in the ditch he has made at our 
expense." While all this was going on, at once, there 
was a shout of " There she comes ! she is coming ! " A 
team of spirited horses had been fastened to the line at 
Jordan and as they passed the crowd of spectators, the 
horses were on a fast trot, a wave of water was forced 
wide over the low banks, and a loud shout arose from the 
excited crowd. This successful trip silenced all doubters 
and the canal was acknowledged to be a success. From 
that hour dates a new era in the history of Syracuse. All 
agreed that this water-way must result in great advantan- 
tages to the locality. Men of means came here and used 



TO A CITY. II 

their money freely in building storage and forwarding 
houses on the line of the canal. No place from Albany 
to Buffalo attracted so much attention as Syracuse, on ac- 
count of its salt interests. Among the few inhabitants 
here there was much enthusiasm, and the forest receded 
before the axe-man's stroke. Of all the enterprising men 
fav could equal Joshua Forman, and none could do more 
than he in laying the foundation for a permanent pros- 
perity. To his great energy, and ability, the undertaking 
and completion of the Erie canal is largely due. To him 
more than any other man, is Syracuse indebted for what 
it is to-day. He located at Onondaga Valley in 1800 
and opened a law office. He early became interested in 
founding a town that would ultimately became one of 
importance, and for many reasons he believed that neither 
of the three rivals, Salina, Onondaga Hill or Onondaga 
Valley should be the centre of this town. But to the 
clear and discerning mind of Judge Forman he believed 
it must be on a line of navigation through which much of 
the commerce of the state must pass. Accordingly he 
left the Valley and located where is now the centre of 
Clinton, between Water and Washington streets. At 
that time the greatest number of buildings were standing 
on what is now West Genesee street. Streets had no ex- 
istence then. 

A wagon road from the Valley leading to Salina, 
crossed the Genesee turnpike at the canal bridge on 
Salina street west of Salina and south of Water street. 
The block where the Weiting Opera House and many 
other elegant and costly building are now standing, was 



12 FROM A FOREST 

then a grove of stately pines. The small trees, and all the 
under brush had been removed, and sufficient sunlight 
found its way through the scattering pines, to give life to 
the wild grass. Here was the little white house of Mr. 
Forman. The grounds west, nearly to the creek, were 
soon transformed into a garden, where beautiful flowers and 
fine vegetables grew under the care of the gardener; it 
was a place of rare beauty for those times, here a lover of 
nature and rural life, could be content, among those pines 
clothed in evergreen with such peculiar foliage, that they 
never cease responding in low murmurs to the passing 
breeze. In this beautiful pine grove the first celebration 
of the 4th, that was eyer held in Syracuse took place in 
1820. As before stated a section of the canal was com- 
pleted and several small boats could be located here. It 
was proposed to have a grand celebration of the 4th, 
which in those days was entered into with vastly more 
spirit than now, for many were then living, who had 
taken part with and followed the great Washington in 
skirmish and battle. One of the attractions, was a ride 
on the canal. The people of the present day will be 
surprised that so novel was this considered at that 
time, that the Govenor of the state with many other cele- 
brities, as well as many from all parts of the state, and 
inhabitants for miles around were here to see and take 
part. The programme was carried out in all it appoint- 
ments. Thaddeus M. Wood was called to preside, and in a 
short and brilliant speech, for which this man was so won- 
derfully distinguished, dwelt upon the great achievements 
of the day they celebrated, and upon the inexhaustible 



TO A CITY. 13 

mines of wealth contained in their salt interests, and the 
postive assurance of an early and successful completion of 
a waterway through the state, which would afford them a 
cheap and easy transportation to the markets of the west 
and the tide water east. In view of this great advantage, 
in part only enjoyed by any other locality, it seemed 
postively certain that at no distant day instead of the 
shade of these pines, the shade of towering buildings 
would fall upon the ground where they then stood, that 
beautiful paved streets east and west would soon spring 
into existence populated by a happy and prosperous 
people. The oration was delivered by S. N. Hopkins, 
Esq., in which the same sentiments were continued in a 
most, eloquent manner. A lengthy account of this cele- 
bration appeared in a paper published at that time in 
Onondaga Valley, and read by the writer many years ago. 
Notwithstanding these flattering prospects so eloquent- 
ly expressed by Mr. Wood, there was a great drawback 
to the enterprise, one that seemed to dampen the ardor 
of the bravest heart. Syracuse had the reputation which 
seemed to be well supported, of being the most un- 
healthy locality in the state and to use the language of 
that time " it seemed to be the abode of pestilence and 
death," especially while the canal was being dug which un- 
doubtedly added to the other causes of sickness, and few 
of the canal laborers escaped the fever and many died. 
Thirty of these poor fellow were buried near where 
Fayette crosses Clinton street. Their lonely graves were 
then shaded by the tall forest trees that were standing 
near. The busy throng that now surges to and fro 



14 FROM A FOREST 

through that locality are not aware of this fact. Some 
who had located here with the expectation of remaining 
and had built small frame houses, tore them down and 
removed them to more healthy locations. This most 
serious difficulty was to a great extent obviated by Judge 
Forman who believed there could be but little prosper- 
ity unless a healthy condition could be restored and like 
a skillful physician, was determined to find the cause if 
possible and then proceed to obviate it if it was in the 
power of man. He took a careful survey of Onondaga 
creek and lake, and found that the lake was nearly on a 
level with some of it surroundings when the water was 
highest and it set back from the creek and lake, and flood- 
ed the low and swampy lands. After making a survey of 
the outlet of the lake in the Seneca river, he believed it 
was possible to lower the lake several feet by making its 
outlet much wider and deeper. He petitioned the legis- 
lature for an appropriation for this purpose and also for 
surveys and maps for a thorough system of drainage. A 
part of the expense was to be a local tax upon the lands as 
they were benefited. This work was completed in 
1822-23. The lowering of the lake produced a salutary 
effect ; what was marsh and swamp became dry land, yet 
there were some pools which stubbornly resisted. Ditch- 
es were dug from these to the creek and some traces of 
them still remain. The last pool or frog pond that I re- 
member was located where the Farmer block now stands, 
on the corner of Madison and Warren streets. A sewer 
was constructed by Bradley Gary to the creek, and this 
pool was drained and filled up. The residents on War- 



TO A CITY. 15 

ren street would be surprised if they could see that local- 
ity as it was in 1828. There was a hill where Onondaga 
crosses Warren street. North of this point was a deep 
ravine with a brook running through it, the banks of 
which were lined with flags and rushes, through which 
the muskrat and mink had made paths in their nocturnal 
visits to the old mill pond. Before this ravine was filled 
a buckboard on which three mechanics were riding down 
the hill, broke, and one a Mr. Hamilton was run over and 
his collar bone broken, he was carried to the nearest 
house a quarter of a mile distant where he was cared for. 
This accident is referred to as shewing the condition of 
the road bed here at that time. A few years after the 
ravine was filled and the road made level. The thorough 
system of drainage with the lowering of the lake, though 
expensive, proved most salutary in its effects upon the 
health of the inhabitants and prosperity was again re- 
stored and many who had desired to locate here, but had 
been restrained from fear, now came with confidence. 

THE NAME OF SYRACUSE. 

Previous to the year 1820 the place had been known by 
several different names. For the first twelve years it had 
taken its name from the first hotel, and while Mr. Bogar- 
dus was proprietor it was called Bogardus' Corners. It 
was next called Cossit's Corners, and South Salina. The 
latter name was not popular on account of feuds, and 
petty jelousies existing between the two places, and for 
the want of a better name it was called Milan, for three 



l6 FROM A FOREST 

years, but that was not generally liked. At'this date there 
were not far from two hundred inhabitants scattered 
about the vicinity. They were called together for some 
business purpose, when incidentally the vexed question of 
a name arose for discussion. Judge Forman made a 
short speech in which he stated '.hat it would seem that 
they had arrived at that point when they should decide 
upon some permanent name; that he had always felt it 
would grow to be a place of importance, and should 
therefore have a good name. He said Corinth had always 
been a favorite name ever since he first read Grecian his- 
tory, (probably the most of his hearers had never heard 
of such a place) and he then gave them an account of this 
Grecian city. I am indebted to the traditions of the first 
settlers for this information. It is now impossible to re- 
late what he said on this occasion. He might, and probably 
did say, something to this effect, " We must confess that 
thus far, for fifteen years we have been vacillating be-. 
tween several different names for the town, whose foun- 
dations we all desire shall be well laid. If we now select 
the name, Corinth, and should it bear that name as long 
as its Grecian namesake, some relic worshipper might 
look down from some of our hill tops five thousand years 
hence upon an ancient city, extending miles to the south 
with its spires and glittering domes and say, here is a 
city whose origin is lost in the night of ages. For Cor- 
inth the Grecian city was founded long before Homer 
wrote the siege of Troy. It was one of the finest cities 
of Greece, adorned with the most sumptuous buildings, 
its public squares and temples, its theatres and porticos 



TO A CITY. 17 

were famed in antiquity. The forum surrounded by 
temples and adorned with statues and columns. Here 
was the statue of Diana of the Ephesians and the Tem- 
ple of Fortune, with its statues of Parian marble." It is 
certain, if we can rely upon the statements of the first 
settlers, that Mr. Forman christened our town Corinth, 
and in all probability instead of living in the city of 
Syracuse to day we should be living in the city of Cor- 
inth, had it not been prevented by a mere accident. 
Some time during the year 18 19 Mr. Wilkinson 
with others petitioned for a post office to be established 
in Corinth, N. Y., and himself for Postmaster. He soon 
after received his appointment, but the application for 
the name of the post office was rejected in conse- 
quence of there already being one in the state by that 
name. Within a few years our city has been flooded with 
pamphlets filled with advertisements, and for the purpose 
of inducing the people to preserve and tolerate them, 
have contained a few pages of the early history of Syra- 
cuse, in every instance quoted verbatim from Mr. 
Clark's history of Onondaga, and when they arrive at the 
name of our town they simply say Mr. Wilkinson named 
it Syracuse. The Yankee is renowned for his inquisitive 
proclivities, which in him seem an innate principle and 
is demonstrated in the character of the boy who cut the 
bellows in pieces to find out where the wind came from. 
Should one of our inquisitive inhabitants start out with the 
view of finding out the " whys and wherefores " that gave 
our city the name of Syracuse, I will venture to say he 
might continue his inquiries until he had interrogated 
2 



18 FROM A FOREST 

every citizen, and all would have the same reply, " I 
do not know." On this subject I have an item of inter- 
est that came to me by the merest accident. In taking a 
walk one Sunday morning in June 1855, I passed Mr. 
John Wilkinson's on James Street. His garden was ex- 
tensive, bounded on the north by James, and on the 
south by Hawley street and surrounded by a high, tight 
board fence. The wide gates happened to be open. I 
could not pass so beautiful a sight without stopping to 
take in the prospect. The fragrance of the blooming 
flowers, the pebbled walks, winding here and there among 
the deep green shrubbery, trailing vines, some in flower, 
others in their rich foilage clinging to arches that were 
formed over the walk, beyond a rustic moss covered 
bridge, near which were rockeries encircled with wild 
flowers, and artificial mounds covered with a well clipped 
turf, and bordered with flowers and foliage plants. 
Near the centre of this extensive garden of beauty, more 
prominent than all its other attractions, clothed in a thick 
growth of English ivy, was standing twenty feet of the 
trunk of a forest tree that had been a monarch here long 
before Father LeMoine discovered our salt fountains, or 
the supposed Spaniard chiseled the date 1520 on the 
stone at Pompey Hill. While thus feasting on this 
scene of beauty Mr. Wilkinson's voice was heard, he was 
seated in a woodbine covered summer-house with news- 
papers and magazines by his side, he said : " walk in sir ! 
walk in ! my garden is extensive, you are at liberty to 
walk through it." After taking a half hour stroll, I re- 
turned to the summer house thanking Mr. Wilkinson for 



TO A CITY. 19 

giving me so much pleasure, and remarking that I had 
just finished reading his namesake, Sir. J. G. Wilkinson's 
Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians, that I was 
indebted to him for a description of a garden that was in 
full bloom on the Nile four thousand years ago, and then 
perfectly represented and carved in detail on the owner's 
tomb. He said u you interest me, will you give a des- 
cription, as I have not seen the book you refer to." 
This I was able to do ; he then remarked that he always 
took great pleasure in reading well written accounts of 
ancient cities now in ruins. That owing to this love of 
antiquity our young city was christened after one of them. 
That soon after leaving the Academy at Onondaga Valley 
he was in New York, and while there called at the house 
of a friend, not finding him at home, and deciding to 
wait an hour or two, he was seated in his friend's library. 
He took up an English publication which contained a 
lengthy poem on the subject, " Syracuse," his eyes had 
not glanced over more than a dozen lines before he 
became deeply interested. It was a prize poem by 
Edward Stanley, and had won the chancellor's prize at 
the University of Oxford. The poem commenced with a 
description of the island of Ortygia long before the foun- 
dations of the ancient city of Syracuse were laid. He 
then gave the myth of the beautiful nymph Arethusa, who 
while bathing in the river was seen by the hunter Alpheus, 
who became enamored with her but, the nymph not re- 
sponding to his ardent love fled to the island of Ortygia 
at Syracuse. When about to be overtaken by Alpheus, the 
nymph prayed to the godess Diana for protection, who 



20 FROM A FOREST 

changed her into a fountain which ever after was called 
Arethusa. Being deeply interested in the poem Mr. 
Wilkinson began to study the history of Syracuse, and 
the geography of its surroundings. He found a wonderful 
similarity between the celebrated fountain and our own 
lake, more careful study revealed the closer resemblance 
between the two, they were nearly the same size, on the 
margin of both were springs of salt and fresh water ming- 
ling together. It was believed by many that there was an 
underground passage from some distant salt deposit 
which supplied our salt springs. In like manner there was 
said to be an underground passage that led to the foun- 
tain at ancient Syracuse. The old historian Strabo as- 
serted that a cup thrown in a river many miles away 
would float underground and make its appearance in this 
celebrated fountain ; and what was most astonishing, our 
lake as well as the fountain might be said to have a clas- 
sical history. 

F. Creuxieus published in Paris in 1656 ten books, in 
which our lake and the fresh and salt water springs were 
described as most wonderful. W. Greenhalgh in a jour- 
ney from Albany to " ye Indians westward, begun May 
20th, 1677 and ended July ye 14th, following," described 
the same. These ancient writers after describing our lake 
as an object of great beauty, say that " what is the most 
wonderful is that springs of salt and fresh water each 
bubble up from the same hill." Mr. Wilkinson said to 
complete the similarity between the two places, there 
was a town on the north of the Sicilian Syracuse, named 
Salina. As before stated it was necessary to find a new 



TO A CITY. 21 

name for our Postoffice, accordingly a committee was ap- 
pointed from the few inhabitants, consisting of Judge 
Forman, Rufus Stanton, Mr. Wilkinson, and two others. 
The proposed plan was that each should select a name 
and from those submitted choose the one that seemed 
best adapted. Judge Forman speaking first, said he had 
recently selected a name which was his choice above all 
others. He had believed the town would bear the name of 
Corinth as long as its Grecian namesake, but its short 
existence demonstrated the uncertainty of human ex- 
pectations, he would therefore decline to propose another 
name. Mr. Wilkinson then proposed the name of Syra- 
cuse, and gave for his reasons what is above stated. This 
name was selected by a unanimous vole and gave general 
satisfaction among the inhabitants. So much for the 
name. I have given this statement in some detail, as I 
think it will be new to many readers. I was recently in 
conversation with quite an old resident, of average intelli- 
gence, who remarked that Syracuse was an Indian name. 
This ignorance in regard to the name, which is to some 
extent common, will justify my efforts. Every good citi- 
zen should take pride in our town and have some knowl- 
edge of its Sicilian namesake. It is probable that very 
few of cur citizens will ever overlook the plains where 
ancient Syracuse once stood; her beauty and glory is not 
there; it is only to be found on the historian's page. It 
was in its greatest prosperity 320 years B. C. I am sad 
when I think I can never overlook, from its surrounding 
heights, the plain where it once stood. If mighty names 
and events crowd upon the mind when we simply read 



2 2 FROM A FOREST 

the name Syracuse, what vivid historical associations 
must be awakened by the soil itself. It was extolled by 
Cicero as the most beautiful city in the Grecian world; it 
was the scene of some of the greatest personages and 
events of antiquity: of Gelon's patriotism, of Harmo- 
crate's valor, and Dyonysius' genius. It baffled Carth- 
age; it crushed and captured the proudest armada equip- 
ped by Athens, in the plenitude of her power, and after 
opposing the science of Archimedes to the strength of 
Rome, it was lost only by the drunkenness of its guards 
during the night of Diana's festival. Its fate stirred 
compassion even in the heart of its rugged conqueror. 
When Marcellus looked down, at morning, from the 
heights on the whole expanse of Syracuse, the sight of its 
palaces and temples glittering in the sun, of its harbors 
so lately impregnable, and its fleets so lately invincible, 
the recollections of its ancient glory, the knowledge of its 
impending fate, and the importance of his own victory, 
impressed him with such emotions that he burst into 
tears. After a lapse of more than two thousand years, if 
our citizens could look down upon it from the same spot, 
they would see the scene of desolation complete. The 
beautiful groves, palaces and temples, have all disap- 
peared, and the arid rock alone remains where the ser- 
pents bask, and the solitary wild flower is unbent by 
human footsteps. The great events in the life of our 
namesake may fail to interest the reader. I have care- 
fully delineated the laying of the foundation of our 
city, which has nearly completed its first century of life. 
The first hundred pioneers who built homes of logs 



TO A CITY. 23 

and slabs, like their humble dwellings, have long since 
mingled with the dust of the past. The plot of ground 
once devoted to their graves, and the simple marble slabs 
inscribed " Sacred to the memory of the first settlers of 
Syracuse," have been removed by unfeeling hearts and 
hands, and railroad depots now occupy the ground where 
thousands daily arrive and depart, who know not, and 
care not, whose graves are under their feet. " Let the 
dead bury their dead," is the motto now as of yore. We 
are living in a fast age, that has but little interest in 
historic shanties, or things of the past, or anything else 
that has not some direct bearing on dollars or cents. 
This is to be regretted, for we cannot have a firm grip on 
the future unless we know something of the past. By 
the development of mankind to a higher civilization, our 
city, unlike Syracuse of old, is no longer in fear of invad- 
ing foes from without; our danger lies in foes from within 
— greedy and dishonest officials who have more regard for 
their own pockets than for the welfare of the city. These 
are foes that are sapping the life and prosperity of our 
city. It is to be hoped that the same advancement as in 
the arts and sciences, which have so wonderfully marked 
the present age, will be seen in the near future, in the 
development of a higher manhood, a growing love for 
right and justice. When greed and dishonesty shall be 
unknown in municipal governments, when our city shall 
be free from intemperance, vice and injustice, then we 
shall be on the road to a true greatness and lasting 
prosperity. 



24 FROM A FOREST 



THE OLD RED MILL. 



In 1804 Mr. Walton purchased from the State 250 acres, 
the now central portion of Syracuse. There was a stipu- 
lation requiring him to build a mill and a public house on 
the tract purchased; accordingly he located the mill in 
1805 on the bank of the creek where the High School 
building now stands. It will thus be seen that this part 
of West Genesee street was the original center of life and 
activity in Syracuse. It was here in this mill that the 
first wheel made its first revolution to give motion and 
power to machinery so essential to the life of any town. 
Around this point the primitive dwellings of the first set- 
tlers were placed. This was the locality of the first 
church and school-house, and all was due to the influ- 
ence of the mill. As years went by it became venerable 
with age and was known by the name of "'the old red 
mill," and it has been the theme of many an interesting 
page of history. The first settlers of Syracuse reverenced 
the old mill, and all were capable of telling some story of 
interest connected with it. One little incident regarding 
the old mill came to my knowledge a short time ago, and 
I think would be read with interest. The story was told 
me by an old lady now living on one of our most beauti- 
ful streets and in an elegant mansion. She said that 
more than sixty years ago she went to this mill carrying 
on her back a bushel of corn and returned home carrying 
the meal in the same manner; and, the old lady added, 
"it did not hurt me either." Now in these later days, 
when some of her grand-children object to doing some 



TO A CITY. 25 

little task thinking it beneath the dignity of their position, 
she relates to them the story of the old red mill and the 
bushel of corn. I think we may all draw a lesson and a 
moral from the story*. 

In 1807 a freshet swept away the first dam; the second 
was built where West Water street crosses the creek, and 
a raceway was constructed from that point to the mill. 
On this raceway there was a mill to convert flaxseed into 
linseed oil, also a sawmill where in 1825 good pine lum- 
ber could be purchased for three or four dollars, and 
hemlock at two or three dollars a thousand. Trade was 
not active at these prices. Fred Horner was sawyer in 
that year; he was a man of great strength and liked his 
business, and could boast of receiving a call from George 
Washington to inspect a mill that he was running in New 
Jersey. I lived within a few rods of one of Mr. Horner's 
sons, and he never tired of telling stories of the old red 
mill and the finding of Indian relics in the vicinity. When 
it was decided to remove the mill dam, to improve the 
health of the town, the Syracuse Company employed Mr. 
Youngs to dig a raceway connecting with the channel of 
West Water street from the weigh-lock, and in doing so 
he removed an old pine stump under the center of which 
he found the skeleton of an Indian and a hatchet, knife 
and other trinkets, also a jar of paint which was still 
fresh. By the antiquity of the designs of these articles 
it was quite clear that they must have been brought here 
two hundred years ago by the Jesuits, a religious order 
of the Catholic church, founded by Ignatius Loyola in 
Paris in 1534, with the object of carrying their religion 



2(5 FROM A FOREST 

over the whole earth. A mission was established in 
Quebec in 1633, and from this mission for fifty years 
missionaries were sent to nearly all of the Indian tribes. 
Our first school-house was built On Church street; it 
was a hip roof with a high ceiling inside, and for several 
years all the religious meetings in the place were held 
here. The first sermon preached by a Baptist clergyman, 
also Unitarian, Universalist, and I think Presbyterian, 
were preached in this school-house. In February, 1821, 
was organized the First Baptist society with a member- 
ship of thirteen persons. The Baptist Seminary at Ham- 
ilton offered to provide for preaching every Sunday, in 
the school-house, on condition that those interested should 
furnish a horse and saddle which should become the 
property of the Seminary. Mr. James B. Moore had just 
bought a fine horse in exchange for sixty bushels of salt 
at one dollar per bushel. He was notified one day that 
this little religious society had voted that his horse had a 
providential call for this purpose; he at once added his 
vote, and the horse was sent to Hamilton. It was thought 
that Mr. Moore was a good generous Christian, for he 
was a strong Methodist and never a member of the 
Baptist society. This unsectarian and Christian act was 
characteristic of Mr. Moore; he spent what money he 
had in building up the place; he was a good citizen, de- 
voted to his wife and family, and for his good deeds was 
granted to him the prayer recorded in Tobit viii , 7 : 
" Therefore mercifully ordain that we may become aged 
together." Mr. Moore and his good wife lived to see 
more than eighty years, and both died from old age on 



TO A CITY. 27 

the same day and were buried side by side in one 
grave. In June, 1823, the society secured the Rev. N. I. 
Gilbert for pastor, and the next year laid the foundation 
for their church where the Universalist church now 
stands. In those days there was no ceremony at the 
laying of the corner stone. Mr. Bicknel and David Saf- 
ford were the carpenters. When the sills were placed 
on the walls and a rough floor laid, the people in the 
little village were notified that their services were needed 
to raise the timbers, and the most of the population were 
on hand to help and to see. Frame buildings were not 
raised in those days as now — a stick at a time, but in 
sections called bents. After these sections had all been 
put together ready to raise, the people had assembled, 
and the men ready with their pike-poles in their hands, 
the Rev. Mr. Gilbert stepped forward on some timbers 
and, raising his hand, made a most earnest prayer, — that 
God would bless their effort, and that great good might 
come from it; that the society might grow in numbers 
and usefulness; that God would be with their pastors in 
years to come, and that nothing but orthodox religion 
might ever be preached within its hallowed walls. At 
the word Amen the signal was given and the first section 
rose up in its place, and a shout from the people fol- 
lowed. I might add that the prayer was answered during 
that generation. In 1848 it became a theatre and was 
used as such for some years, where the gospel had been 
preached so long. In 1869 it was purchased again for 
church purposes by the Universalist society. 



28 FROM A FOREST 

THE EMPIRE HOUSE. 

The Empire corner is a historical place in Syracuse, 
as it was the first building lot sold, and was conveyed by 
Mr. Walton in 1805 to Henry Bogardus for the sum of 
$300. It contained one-half acre. There was a stipula- 
tion binding the purchaser to build a public house within 
a reasonable length of time. Accordingly, in 1806, Mr. 
Bogardus built the hotel. It was thirty-five by forty-five 
feet in size and two stories high, and was the first frame 
house built in the town. It is spoken of as the old Man- 
sion House yet it never was an old building, as its age was 
but thirty-eight years when it was removed. It probably 
received this title on account of its shabby appearance. 
Both Mr. Clark and Mr. Clayton in their histories of the 
county are mistaken in the time the house was removed 
to give place for the present building. The Empire was 
commenced in 1844 an d the stores were occupied in 1845. 
McCarthy & Co. first commenced business in Syracuse 
here, also Hutchinson & Williams, Tomlinson & Sharp, 
the Gages, Phillips, Teffts and many others. These 
stores in size and finish greatly surpassed any thing here- 
tofore seen in Syracuse. They soon became popular and a 
great rivalry sprung up between the occupants as to who 
should draw the greatest trade. Extravagant advertising 
was resorted to. Mr. Stillwell occupied a boot and shoe 
store and for a sign and advertisement placed in front of 
his store an immense boot, ten feet high and six feet in 
circumference. Hutchinson & Williams advertised their 
store by poetry composed by Mr. Williams, who claimed 
to have a machine that would grind out the verses when- 



TO A CITY. 29 

ever " Seth " turned the crank. Mr. Williams has since 
been known by the name of " Seth," and many think it is 
his true name. As " Seth " is still well known I will give 
a sample of his poetry that appeared in a Syracuse paper 
over forty-five years ago. 

The " Great Empire " with lofty spire 

Towers towards the skies, 
Her wide spread wings, to the breeze, she flings 

Her name o'er earth it flies. 

Her spacious halls and corridors 

The strongest nerve will charm, 
In richest taste and elegance 

She's carrying off the palm. 

Hold on "Seth."— 

The " Tall Pine " of Lysander won't thank you for 
puffing the " Empire." Give us now something for the 
" Red Sign " and Hutchinson & Williams the Great Reg- 
ulators in Dry Goods. 

Screw up your machine to No. 8 and try again. — Turn. 

Fall has come ; Winter is coming, 
To the " Red Sign " all are running, 
Some for a cloak, some for a vest, 
(For they sell the cheapest and best,) 
They dress the young, they dress the old, 
They protect their shivering limbs from cold, 
Their cloths are good, the colors true, 
Blue, black, brown and indigo blue, 
Ottoman dress goods, rich and rare, 
Walk in ladies ! view with care 
The Royal Purples. The blue and green 
Such beautiful hues are rarely seen, 



30 FROM A FOREST 

Come, Farmers, come, for novfs the day 
Harness up your horses gay, 
For your wheat is thrashed and milled, 
Your pocket now with cash is filled, 
So hurry up your fine bay team, 
Crack the whip, put on the steam 
You'll soon see the bright " Red Sign," 
It's time to stop, haul in the line, 
Boys dismount. The number 's Eight, 
The cheapest store in any State. 

Mr. Tomlinson, the builder and owner of the " Em- 
pire," was killed by the cars at Little Falls in 1848. The 
"Empire" was sold on a foreclosure, and Mr.Taylor, of New 
Jersey, became the purchaser. In 1850 Mr. Voorhees 
became the owner, and after a few years it was sold to Mr. 
White who still holds it. The advent of Jenny Lind in 
New York created the most unbounded enthusiasm 
throughout the country, and when it was announced that 
the sale of tickets to the Lind concert in Syracuse would 
take place at the office of the Empire House, the streets 
in front of the office were filled with the most excited 
crowd that was ever seen in Syracuse, long before the 
hour arrived for the sale of tickets. There had been no 
preparations made to facilitate the rapid sale of the 
tickets, and when the doors were opened ihe excited 
and determined mass of people rushed in as though they 
had been shot from a gun and crowded one upon another 
with such force that the less strong were in imminent 
peril of being crushed to death. Some fainted and others 
cried most piteously for help. This class were raised upon 
the heads and shoulders of the crowd, and in this way 



TO A CITY. 31 

were helped out nearly dead from fright and exhaustion. 
John Hern, a slender fellow, was thrown with great force 
against the side lights of a door, severing the arteries in 
his wrist, and he came struggling out head first over the 
shoulders of the solid mass of human beings, with his 
arterial blood spurting out at every heart throb. None 
but those possessed of a giant's strength attempted to 
enter the crowd. Twenty-five dollars were freely offered 
as the reward for procuring a ticket. 

The corner of Salina and Church streets is the location 
of the first circus grounds, and it was here that the first circus 
and horse show that was ever held in Syracuse took place. 
This circus in 1825 was so well attended by the Indians 
and white people that Mr. Van Patten built a circus 
house half way between Salina street and Willow street 
bridge. About 1840 Wm. A. Robinson bought this corner 
and opened the first temperance hotel in Syracuse — The 
Onondaga House. This property is still owned by his 
children. The old circus house was converted into 
stables to accommodate the patrons of the new temper- 
ance house. 

THE SYRACUSE HOUSE AND VICINITY. 

In the great family of mankind there is a wide diversity 
of tastes and opinions. Some, like x\lexander Selkirk, can 
find no charms in solitude, while others seem to delight 
in spending their lives in seclusion. There are evidences 
that some of this class, more than a hundred years ago, 
built their lonely cabins in the forests of our county. One 
of these was erected near the corner of Genesee and 
Montgomery streets, when and by whom is not known; 



32 FROM A FOREST 

but it is well known that Calvin Jackson lived in this 
cabin in 1800, and his son Alvin was born there. He was 
supposed to be the first white child born within the limits 
of Syracuse. Rufus Stanton was one of the first farmers 
in Syracuse. In 181 r he had his first acre of wheat where 
the Oswego canal crosses North Salina street, and when the 
canal was dug it divided this acre into two triangular 
pieces. In 1814 Forman, Wilson & Co. came into pos- 
session of the Walton tract, and the following year a twenty 
acre lot (a portion of which became the site of the Syra- 
cuse House) was so far reclaimed from the forest that 
Rufus Stanton grew a fine crop of grain on it, when it 
was seeded for pasture and surrounded with a rail fence. 
It extended no farther east than Warren street, but the 
heavy timber had been removed as far back as Mont- 
gomery street and allowed the rays of the setting sun to 
fall on the site of the old log house where Jackson had 
lived, which had so many years been in the forest shade. 
As the block on which the Syracuse House is located 
has for many years been considered the center of the 
town, a description of the first primitive buildings which 
surrounded it might be interesting. The buildings on 
the east side of Salina street, south from the Syracuse 
House, in the year 1829, were nearly all one story and a 
half frame buildings. First from the Syracuse House 
was Olmsted's grocery; second, Esq. Kasson's justice's 
office; third, Green's tailor shop; fourth, Archie Kasson's 
dwelling house; fifth, a small wooden building standing 
on the corner lot, which was rented to a Mr. Quick in 
1829 for a shoe-shop at the extravagant rent of six shil- 



TO A CITY. 33 

lings per week. On the next block south there were 
three small frame buildings and the little white church 
built by the Presbyterians. The next block, on the corner 
of Fayette and Salina streets, was the residence of Zophar 
Adams, who manufactured brick further down on the op- 
posite side of the street. Next south of Mr. Adams' house, 
lived the widow Stewart, and beyond her, in 1829, lived 
Olmsted Quick and John Husenfrats, which completed 
the list of houses on the east side of Salina street. 

It is not claimed that this cut of the original Syracuse 
House is correct in every detail, but it is correct in show- 
ing the style of architecture and giving the general 
appearance of the first building. It is from a description 
furnished ly Booth & Elliott, who were the first builders 
here in the earlier days of Syracuse, and also corresponds 
to the description furnished by Timothy Cheney, who 
was employed with Daniel Elliott to remodel it and 
change its appearance in every particular. It is doubt- 
ful if there is a person now living who has a distinct 
recollection of the first building. Its foundation walls 
were laid nearly seventy years ago, and there was then no 
other building near it. The log house in the distance 
shows the location where Calvin Jackson lived in 1800. 
In 1 823 there was a boom in Syracuse, and the previous year 
Judge Forman completed a system of drainage and low- 
ered the lake, which, to a great extent, removed the cause of 
"pestilence and death" that had been so prevalent here as to 
cause the place to be shunned by all but the most hardy. In 
1823-24 the canal was nearly completed and salt was in 
good demand, in some cases bringing one dollar per bushel, 
:: 



34 FROM A FOREST 

and many people rushed here with as high expectations 
as they did in later years to the California gold fields. 
Kellogg & Sabine laid out the lots east to Warren street. 
Each lot was twenty-five feet front, and the price was 
fixed at $220. The first lot sold was on the corner of 
Warren and Genesee streets, to Mr. Van Hosen who 
built a blacksmith-shop on it. Ezra Rhyne's story and a 
half house came next on the west side, and next to him 
was Jabez Halley's cabinet- shop. Joel Owens built a 
small frame house. Nearly all the buildings east of the 
Syracuse House, that were commenced in 1824, were one 
and a half story frame buildings. In the year 1824 the 
Syracuse Company bought from Kellogg & Sabine the 
original Walton tract with other lands, and about 1827 
rebuilt the Syracuse House and surrounded it with bal- 
conies and ornaments, which added so much to its appear- 
ance that it was considered one of the finest buildings at 
the time in Western New York. The Company also 
erected several substantial buildings on the adjoining 
east side. These spacious buildings on the corner stood 
out in such broad contrast to the little insignificant build- 
ings east and south, that in 1834, by mutual agreement 
among their owners, a uniform block of brick buildings 
three stories in height was erected and named the Frank- 
lin Block. One had a stone front and is the only one 
that has not been modernized more or less. 

The Syracuse House was not built with the expecta- 
tion of a paying support from Syracuse, as there was not 
even a village here at that time; but from transient cus- 
tom from lines of stages, which was the only mode of 



TO A CITY. 35 

public travel through the State, as at that time we had 
neither canals nor railroads. The middle-aged of to-day 
know but little of the hardships of travel in those days. 
We can journey across the continent now with less fatigue 
than we could travel across the State in 1820. Only a 
few years previous to the building of the Syracuse House 
the State became interested in laying out roads through 
the State, the principal thoroughfare being the Genesee 
turnpike. Soon after lines of stages were in running 
order on these roads, and hotels or taverns were erected 
at short distances for the accommodation of travellers. 
This mode of travel is so little known to the young and 
middle-aged people of to-day, that a short description 
may be read with interest, and also serve to show how 
one of the Mayors of the city made his first appearance 
in Syracuse. 

The old four-horse stage coach was a strong and crude 
contrivance and as uncomfortable a mode of travel as 
could be imagined, with its strong perfume of tar-grease 
and reeking horses. Steel springs not having been in- 
vented, the coach body was suspended upon heavy 
leather straps, and a large rack was fastened on the rear 
and called the " boot," where baggage was stowed away. 
The top was decked over and a strong iron railing placed 
around the outside of the deck to keep packages from 
falling off. When passengers were plenty and anxious to 
go, twelve persons were crowded inside, and I have seen 
nearly as many on the outside at the same time. Five 
miles an hour, under such circumstances, was astonish- 
ing velocity. A journey from Albany to Buffalo in those 



36 FROM A FOREST 

days, for ladies and gentlemen who were not strong, was 
undertaken with much reluctance; for sea-sickness was 
as common on such journeys as on a voyage across the 
ocean, as the egg-shaped box suspended on these straps, 
or belts, had the motion of a rocking-chair. At that 
time, when the country was comparatively new, many 
swamps and forests were encountered in building roads. 
These swamps were bridged over by logs being laid close 
together across the road and filled in between with coarse 
gravel which was soon partly forced out, and the most 
intolerable road was the result. As the stage went thump- 
ing and jolting, log in and log out, over this road the 
motion of the stage-coach resembled the action of the 
walking-beam of a high-pressure engine, and those occu- 
pying the rear seat would have to grasp, with both hands, 
the straps that were provided to hold on with, to prevent 
their being thrown headlong from their seats. Under 
such conditions passengers who were not strong would 
soon tire out and be compelled to stop at the taverns and 
rest until another stage was due, sometimes requiring a 
week, in such a case, to make the trip from Albany to 
Buffalo. In those days there was but little travelling for 
pleasure, yet it was an improvement over what had been, 
and travellers were satisfied because they knew of noth- 
ing better. Although many hardships were encountered, 
the journey was not altogether void of attractions, — 
such as the deep dark forest with its towering hemlocks 
and pines, with here and there a little clearing with a log 
house and a feeble attempt to cultivate the soil. The 
scenery was varied and sometimes interesting. The pas- 



TO A CITY. 



37 



sengers were social, and many a warm and lasting friend- 
ship had its origin in the old stage-coach. The drivers 
were a hardy class of men capable of great endurance. 
This was a necessity, as they were exposed to many hard- 
ships which they bore with great cheerfulness. In the 
year 1822 there was a great excitement throughout the 
length of the Genesee turnpike, in consequence of an 
opposition line of stages from Utica to the west. There 
were Vanderbilts in those days, and everything possible 
was done to make this new line a success. Its coaches 
were superior to any that had been used before; the horses 
were the best that could be found, and the drivers were 
selected with the greatest care. At that time there was 
a young blacksmith in Utica, who had applied for a posi- 
tion as a driver on the new line. It was soon found he 
had a great knowledge of horses, and that, with his lively 
and energetic manner, won for him the privilege of select- 
ing his horses and coach from all that were to be placed 
on the line; and as he had the best outfit, he was selected 
to drive out of Utica the first stage on the new opposition 
line, which was a great event in those days and was 
witnessed by a crowd of interested spectators. These 
pages may be of value to some young men who have life 
before them and no definite aim yet decided upon, to 
watch the career of this young coachman and emulate 
his example ; for none could commence life nearer to 
zero than he. All the regular instruction he ever had in 
school was gained in one winter term in a district school, 
and after spending five years to learn the blacksmith's 
trade he started out in the world to seek his fortune with 



38 FROM A FOREST 

a cash capital of only eight cents. We see him next as I 
have described, on the driver's seat ready to leave on his 
western trip. The young coachman is filled with pride as 

" He tightens the reins and whirls off with a fling 
From the roof of the coach his ten feet of string; 
Now lightly he flicks the "nigh" leader's left ear," 

" Gives the wheelers a neighborly slap with the stock, 
They lay back their ears as the coach gives a rock 
And strike a square trot in the tick of a clock ! " 

" There's a jumble, a jar and a gravelly trill 

In the craunch of the wheels on the slate-stone hill 
That grind up the miles like a grist in a mill." 

" He touches the bay and he talks to the brown, 
Sends a token of silk, a word and a frown 
To the filly whose heels are too light to stay down." 

Thus the old stage-coach whirls along, up hill and 
down, through dark forests miles in extent, passing over 
tedious corduroy roads, then where cultivated fields line 
the roadside, with here and there humble dwellings, the 
homes of people who were living in quiet simplicity, 
never dreaming of the comforts and improvements of 
the present day. I always felt the greatest sympathy for 
this hardy class of people who endured great toil and 
hardships in clearing the forests away and preparing the 
soil for cultivated fields of waving grain. They seem to 
have been martyrs who wore their lives away in hard 
labor, that the next generation might enjoy the results. 
This young stage-driver that we have been describing, 
encountered nowhere between Syracuse and Utica a 
worse piece of road, or a more dismal prospect, than that 



TO A CITY. 39 

between the hills on the eastern boundaries of the town 
and the Syracuse House. Every foot of the road-bed 
was made by laying logs close together through the 
swamp. Pools of water lined the sides of the road where 
Fayette park is located, and had a team of horses step- 
ped off this road-bed of logs they would have mired in 
the swamp and prcbably never regained the road. The 
approach from the east to the Syracuse House at that 
time was most unfavorable for a display of the stage- 
driver's skill. When within a mile of their stage-house 
where horses were changed, it was customary for the 
drivers to blow a horn to announce their arrival, and 
constant practice with this simple, straight tin horn en- 
abled some drivers to produce as much music out of it 
as from a key-bugle. At the first blast of the horn the 
weary, tired horses knew that their journey was ended, 
and taught by their drivers to make a display as they 
approached their stopping place, would quicken their steps 
until within a few rods of the house when they would 
spring into a gallop and, guided to the opposite side of 
the street, would cut a circle with the utmost precision 
as they whirled up to the door of the Syracuse House. 



40 FROM A FOREST 

The skill of the drivers of the old stage-coach is well 
described in verse in 

" SONGS OF YESTERDAY." 

" The boys and the girls all abroad in high feather, 
The heads of the horses all tossing together. 
Flinging flakes of white foam like snow in wild weather, 
All swinging their silk like tassels of corn, 
'Twas the drivers time ! And he whipped out the horn ! 
'Twas the drone of king bees and a myriad strong — 
'Twas fanfare ! and fanfare ! with a bugle's prolong, 
Chanticleer ! Chanticleer ! I am coming along !" 

" The bellows dropped down with a vanishing snore. 
The smith in black crayon gave the anvil the floor 
And leaned on his sledge in the cave of a door ; 
The landlord in slippers cut away at the heel, 
Shuffled out on the stoop at the rattle of wheel, 
Click-click — went the gates, and like yarn from a reel, 
Smiling women wound out and looked down the street 
Where the driver swung plumb in his oriole seat, 
The mail, chained and padlocked, tramped under his feet." 

" Ah, few whips alive in their cleverest mood 
Can write with a coach as old Benjamin could, 
And you ought to have seen the sixteen feet 

With their iron shoes on the stricken stone 
When they waltzed around in the narrow street 
To a time and a tune that were all their own, 
Like the short sharp clicks of the Castanet 
By the Moorish girls in a dancing set, 
When, as free as the sweep of a wizard's wand. 
Right-about with a dash came the four-in-hand ! 
'Twas crackle of buckshot and sparkle of fire, 
And never a rasp of a grazing tire, 
As he cut a clean 6 and swept a bold 8, 
Like a boy that is trying his brand new slate ! " 



TO A CITY. 41 

The stage-coach driver who made his first trip with but 
eight cents in his pocket I will now introduce to the 
reader as Jason Woodruff, a man who has a history in 
Syracuse. When he, with so much pride, wheeled up 
his coach-and-four in front of the Syracuse House door, 
he little thought that the dismal swamp through which he 
had passed would be the centre of a beautiful city, that 
the road-bed of logs would give place to paved streets 
lined with spacious dwellings, that just thirty years from 
that time he would fill the office of Mayor of Syracuse, 
and in the parlor of the Syracuse House in 1852 would 
introduce to the citizens General Scott, the hero of many 
battles, and in that year the chosen candidate of the 
Whig party for President of the United States. In the 
life of Mr. Woodruff we have a demonstration that the 
door to position and honor is closed to no young man, no 
matter how dark and cheerless his prospects may be at 
his commencement of life. It matters little what his 
occupation is if he has the ability to excel in his business. 
This stage-driver excelled all others on the road, gained 
the confidence of all he met, and found friends to assist 
him to step from driver to proprietor of a line of stages. 
He soon after erected a flouring-mill in the First Ward 
at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. During the destruc- 
tion by fire of Mr. Haskin's salt grinding mill Mr. Wood- 
ruff's mill caught fire and was destroyed. This was hard 
luck, as his insurance was very small. He was also 
unfortunate by having several thousand bushels of wheat 
in his mill, owned by Mr. John D. Norton. An expensive 
litigation followed between Mr. Woodruff and the owner 



42 FROM A FOREST 

as to who should sustain the loss. Mr. Woodruff related 
the occurrence to me with much feeling, and said after a 
long period of litigation he called his family about him 
and gave them a history of the case and the stubbornness 
of his opponent, and said he would abide by their de- 
cision, as it would be their loss if he at last was beaten 
in the suit. They advised him to pay the claim and he 
did so, but it is evident that he never recovered from 
this misfortune, although he afterwards held many offices 
of responsibility for State, county and city. He was one 
of the trustees of the First Presbyterian church for 24 
years. From 1831 to 1837 he discharged the onerous 
duties of bank manager under the United States banking 
system. 

The most remarkable building in our city is the Syra- 
cuse House. Charles Dudley Warner speaking of the 
antiquity of an Egyptian Sphinx, says : u All of the 
achievements of the race of which we know anything, 
have been enacted since that figure was carved. It has 
seen (if its stony eyes can see) all the procession of 
history file before it." In like manner we can say, that 
whatever history Syracuse may have, it has all transpired 
since the corner stone of the Syracuse House was laid. In 
the year 1820 Messrs. Buel & SafTord bought the twenty 
acres cornering here and commenced to build a hotel, the 
only resemblance to the present building being that it 
was built of brick. It was fifty feet square and two 
stories, with a basement. The roof slanted to the north 
and south, and the end walls were carried above the roof 
and called battlements, through which the chimneys were 



TO A CITY. 43 

built. At that time, and for years after, a large part of 
the brick buildings were built in this way. During the 
erection of the building an accident happened by which 
two men fell. One man lodged on a joist and was badly 
hurt, but Mr. Safford fell to the cellar and was killed. 
This accident delayed the completion of the building, 
but it was finally finished in 1822 by Mr. Eckle. Many 
years later there was another accident also attended with 
loss of life while workmen were engaged in raising the 
south wing a story higher over the long dining-room. I 
was passing the house when I heard a scream. I looked 
up and saw a man falling from the top of the wall, his 
head striking the flagstone a few feet in front of me and 
burst open as it struck the stone. In a minute it seemed 
as if all the blood in his body was flowing over the side- 
walk. A minute before his strong arm was filled with 
activity and a long life of usefulness seemed to be spread 
out before him, in which by his industry he could build 
for himself and family a home of happiness and comfort. 
His life with all his hopes and anticipations in a moment's 
time had fled. His brother workmen, after looking down 
and seeing his fate, resumed their work without him. 
His lifeless body was carried away and a servant came 
out with a pail of water and a broom and cleaned the 
blood from the side-walk and all was over but the in- 
delible lesson that it had taught us of the uncertainty of 
life. These accidents lead us to reflect on the dangers 
and hardships incident to a mechanic's life, for which he 
seldom receives sympathy. 

The finger of scorn is sometimes pointed at the Syra- 



44 FROM A FOREST 

cuse House on account of its obsolete and unattractive 
appearance, as it sometimes is with men who are unable 
to adopt the style that the conventional requirements of 
the times demand. It is true that every corner in its 
vicinity can boast of a vastly superior structure. It is 
also true that around this unpretentious building there is 
a history that, were it written, would be read with more 
interest than that of all its more stately neighbors. Forty 
years ago the first floor of the Syracuse House was four 
feet higher than it is now, with a platform and steps run- 
ning all around the house facing the street. This plat- 
form was of sufficient capacity to seat a hundred people, 
and was a popular resort for men of leisure to congregate 
and discuss the news of the day and the gossip of the 
town, which was always well ventilated here. There 
was also a class, who were well represented, that never 
entered into any discussion, and it was said that the 
vanity of this class led them here that they might be 
seen by the people passing by and be taken as guests of 
the house, as they were always picking their teeth. There 
was a young man, who was always in his place, that they 
called " young Jason," who was always seen with a cigar 
in his mouth, and was the subject of a bet of twenty-five 
dollars between two friends. One bet that the other 
could never find "young Jason" without a cigar in his 
mouth, meal time excepted. Three o'clock in the morn- 
ing was the time named by the party who was to find 
him without a cigar in his mouth, and accordingly at that 
hour the parties, with a witness, rang the door-bell of his 
father's house, which was answered by the father. They 



TO A CITY. 45 

explained the natuie of their visit at that unreasonable 
hour to be a matter of business with his son which could 
not be delayed. As one of the parties was a railroad 
conductor their request seemed reasonable, and there- 
upon they were led to the sleeping-room of the young 
man where he was found fast asleep with a stub of a cigar 
an inch long in his mouth, his cheek covered with the 
ashes and the room filled with tobacco smoke. The bet 
was promptly paid and was the subject of much sport 
long after. The truth of this story I cannot vouch for, 
but as a warning to all who smoke to excess I can say 
that the young man was about thirty years old and 
weighed but ninety-six pounds. His early death was 
attributed to his excessive smoking which was undoubt- 
edly the cause. There was an unusual episode happened 
to the party that assembled on the Syracuse House steps 
one afternoon in the summer of '47. The day previous, 
Mr. Wise made a balloon ascension from an inclosure on 
the west side of Salina, between Fayette and Jefferson 
streets. As Mr. Wise took his place in the basket he 
made a speech in which he said he was to make an ascen- 
sion in Auburn the next day, and that he would bring 
to his friends in Syracuse the Auburn papers in advance 
of the fastest train. The next day the wind was in the 
south-east and no one expected Mr. Wise would keep 
his promise ; but, nevertheless, some person saw his bal- 
loon in a current that brought him over the city. It was 
at a great altitude and looked only the size of an apple. 
He made his descent in the First Ward, where a dray 
was sent after him and he was brought to the steps of the 



46 FROM A FOREST 

Syracuse House in his balloon, where he delivered the 
Auburn papers. For the amusement of the crowd which 
had assembled, he made an ascension with much diffi- 
culty, and after sailing just above the tops of the build- 
ings in imminent danger of descending into the canal, he 
threw out his coat and then his boots, making a fair 
ascension, finally descending into a garden on West 
Genesee street. 

In the days of which I am writing there was no place 
in town where the political issues of the times were so fully 
and clearly discussed as on the platform of the Syracuse 
House. The names of those who were considered the best 
talkers were Wm. B. Kirk, "Chancellor" Orcutt, Isaac 
D. Lawson, W. Van Zandt, Joel Greeley and several 
others. When a quorum of these men were present there 
was always a fair audience of listeners. A few feet south 
of the steps was a tobacco and cigar store kept by Wm. 
L. Palmer, who sold tobacco by the year for a stated 
sum if smoked in his store. He kept a barrel of fine-cut 
under his counter, where those who paid for their year's 
supply went around and helped themselves. Tobacco 
was cheap in those days. This place was called "Tam- 
many Hall." When the weather or the hour of day was 
unfavorable for this crowd on the Syracuse House steps, 
it was understood that they could be found in " Tam- 
many Hall." I will explain the origin of the name as I 
understand it. There was a Delaware Chief whose name 
was "Tammany," and who died in the latter part of the 
eighteenth century. Societies in honor of his name 
sprung up in Philadelphia, New York, and other cities ; 



TO A CITY. 



47 



but that organized in New York, May 12, 1789, was the 
only one that survived and still exists. This society, 
originally charitable, became diverted to political uses, 
and in the hands of the Democratic party grew to be the 
recognized head of that party in this State. The little 
cigar store in the Syracuse House took its name from 
Tammany Hall in New York, and was the headquarters 
at that time of a class of men whose chief occupation and 
delight was to smoke and talk politics. I think in the 
days of slavery the common people were more interested 
in politics than now, as some scheme was constantly 
springing up in Congress to strengthen or combat this 
institution. Sometimes parties would spring into life 
headed by candidates for the Presidency, the result of 
some issue of the slave question. I will give an instance. 
A bill appropriating $2,000,000 to buy Mexican territory 
having been introduced into Congress in August, 1846, 
Mr. VVilmot offered an amendment providing " that as 
an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition 
of any territory from the Republic of Mexico, by the 
United States, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
shall exist in any part of said territory." This "Wil- 
mot proviso," as it was afterwards called, passed the 
House but not the Senate. It was the basis of the Free- 
soil campaign of 1848. Lewis Cass made himself decid- 
edly popular in the debates on this question. As the 
Mexican war approached a conclusion Mr. Cass's famous 
Nicholson letter made its appearance. This letter, dated 
December 24, 1S47, proposed to keep the question of 
slavery or its prohibition in the Territory to be acquired 



48 FROM A FOREST 

from Mexico, out of Congress, by setting up for the legis- 
latures of the Territories an exclusive right of determin- 
ing their own domestic institutions equivalent to that 
possessed by the State. Mr. Cass made himself so popu- 
lar in this matter that he was chosen as the Democratic 
candidate for President at Baltimore in 1848. He found 
a formidable opponent in General Zachary Taylor, 
nominated by the Whig party on the strength of his mili- 
tary achievements in the Mexican war. I should not 
have referred to this matter, interesting as it may be, had 
it not been that I desired to introduce Mr. Cass to the 
reader, that I might relate an episode that happened to 
him on the Syracuse House steps. He was delivering 
campaign speeches through the country and was a guest 
at the Syracuse House. He was invited out by his 
friends to make a speech, and was standing on the steps 
facing Salina street when, during the most exciting part 
of his speech, he paused a moment to take breath, some 
wag in the little crowd shouted, " Hurrah for old Zach ! " 
This was followed by suppressed laughter from a number 
of inconsiderate Whigs. The effect upon the speaker 
and his hearers, by this interruption, can hardly be 
imagined. He seemed to have lost his subject for the 
moment, and to recover himself he turned to the insult- 
ing fellow and said: "I am sometimes called the Michi- 
gan school teacher, and I am proud of the title ; but let 
me tell you, sir, that there are two qualifications neces- 
sary in that branch, — one is to teach, and the other is to 
chastise. In your case I feel competent to do both ; but 
however deserving you may be I will only say to you, 



TO A CITY. 49 

that it is a shocking breach of etiquette to hurrah for the 
opposite candidate at such a time as this." 

An interesting chapter might be written in relation to 
the celebrated men of our country who have, at different 
times, held their receptions and made speeches from the 
balconies of the Syracuse House. Such men as Wm. L. 
Marcy, who held the office of Governor of our State for 
three terms from 1832 and was defeated by Wm. H. 
Seward as a candidate for a fourth term in 1838; also 
General Scott, Henry Clay, John C. Fremont, and many 
others To follow back in the path of time and bring to 
life the incidents and subjects which seemed of vital 
importance and filled the public mind forty or fifty years 
ago would not be time wasted, as by this course we can best 
judge of the world's progress. The venerable should be 
respected. When we reflect that this was the first brick 
house built in this place, it is worthy of our admiration. Its 
walls have been heated scorching hot repeatedly during the 
destruction by fire of more pretentious buildings in its im- 
mediate vicinity, yet never but once was it in a blaze, 
and then but a few minutes during the greatest conflagra- 
tion that Syracuse ever experienced, in 1834. It has 
been so charitable as to pay the insurance companies, 
dining its long existence, many times its own value to 
enable them to make good the losses of its unfortunate 
neighbors. It is the nucleus, the central hub, around 
which a city many miles in circumference has sprung 
into existence. 



50 FROM A FOREST 

CORNER OF JAMES AND SALINA STREETS. 

In 1807, Mr. Merrill built a small frame house on the 
east side of Salina near James street, it being the first 
building on that block. The place was so unhealthy 
that his family were sick much of the time, and becoming 
discouraged he pulled down his house and carried it 
away with him. At this date there were not more than 
half a dozen buildings between Syracuse and Salina; 
what is now North Salina street was then called Cooper 
street as nearly every building was used for a cooper's 
shop, there being only a crude wagon road cut through 
the woods. About half way between the two places a 
Mr. Blake had made a small clearing and commenced 
farming. As soon as the canal was completed boat 
building became a lively branch of trade. Deacon 
Spencer built a frame house on the corner where the 
Greyhound Block now stands. A part of the old house 
was torn down when the new block was built and was 
said to have been the oldest house in the city. He also 
opened a boat yard and commenced the building of boats 
in 1825. At a later date Mr. John Durston purchased 
the yard, enlarged it and added greatly to the facilities 
of boat building. In his yard there was never any con- 
troversy between capital and labor, and there never was 
a kinder man to his workmen. Forty or fifty years ago 
it was much harder for poor laboring men to get through 
the winter than now, as money was scarce and building 
came to a standstill. Mr. Durston put forth every effort 
to supply work in his yard for such needy people, and 
many families were thus made comfortable through the 



TO A CITY. 51 

winter that otherwise must have suffered. The spacious 
and elegant memorial building erected by his sons is a 
worthy tribute to the memory of John Durston. 

In 1824, there were but three wooden dwellings on 
Salina street opposite the Empire, these were occupied 
by Dr. Colvin, Mr. Sacket and a Mr. Lewis. This 
locality was afterwards built up with wooden buildings. 
About the year 1838, George and Peter Wagoner erected 
the first brick store on this block, where the firm sold 
groceries at wholesale and retail for many years. In 
those days the side-walk in front of some stores seemed 
to have been claimed by the occupants for storage pur- 
poses. One day while hoisting hogsheads of sugar from 
the side-walk in front of Wagoners' store, a little girl in 
passing was caught by a hogshead as it swung clear from 
the walk and was so badly hurt that she was a cripple 
for life. A lengthy litigation followed which resulted in 
a verdict for two thousand dollars for the girl, which was 
paid. This row of old wooden buildings stood out in so 
great a contrast to the beautiful Empire, that their 
owners were ashamed of them, and about the year 1850, 
there was great carelessness with fire in that locality, and 
fires frequently occurred, but the old rookeries stubbornly 
refused to be cremated until during a drouth in July 
they all turned to ashes in a single night. Most of the 
substantial buildings seen there now were built soon 
after. As soon as the Erie canal was surveyed and the 
line established, wooden buildings were erected between 
Warren and Salina streets. The first building, placed 
where the Syracuse Savings Bank is now, was a 



52 FROM A FOREST 

long two-story structure filling the space between the 
canal and James street, and was occupied by General 
Granger as a store, his family living in the north part 
of the building. It was placed at some distance from 
Salina street to give room for a fine plot for shrubbery 
and flowers which was protected by a fence painted 
green. On the Warren street corner was a wooden build- 
ing occupied by E. L. Clark as a store-house. About 
half way between Granger's and Clark's stood a rookery 
occupied by an old hunter and trapper named Cummings, 
who looked more like a gorilla than a human being; his 
wealth consisted in a lot of pet bears, wolves and wild 
cats, which he was anxious to exhibit to the passing boat- 
men for a small entrance fee. There were several build- 
ings all of which faced the canal, the gables and back 
yards facing James street, which was but little more than 
a wagon track at that time. Eleven of these buildings 
were burned on the 16th of March, 1834. On the site 
of the Granger store was erected in 1835 a three-story 
brick building, — in front of the second story there was a 
wide platform running the whole length of the building 
with three stone steps leading from Salina street. The 
lower floor contained two entrances, one from James 
street and one from the towpath. The second floor 
was used for shops and offices. George Tyler, a mer- 
chant tailor, occupied the south-west corner for many 
years. The Syracuse Star, and many other papers were 
printed in the upper story. It was called the "Star" 
building, and finally gave place to the Syracuse Savings 
Bank. 



TO A CITY. 53 

WEST WATER STREET TO CLINTON. 

The south-west corner of Salina and Water streets 
where the Wieting Block now stands, was the site of a 
small frame building which was removed and gave place 
to a very substantial structure for those days, erected by 
Kasson & Heermans. The front faced Water street, with 
the greatest depth on Salina street ; this side was a blank 
wall with but a single opening of one small door on the 
ground floor, — in strange contrast to the handsome win- 
dows and doors of the Salina street front of the Wieting 
Block of to-day. The height was three stories, with 
battlements carried high above the roof, and did not 
escape what seemed an epidemic in those days of afflict- 
ing every brick building with a coat of white-wash, and 
from which it never recovered. The next building west 
was of wood, owned and occcupied by Mr. Malcom as a 
hardware store. Mr. Malcom 's house was located on the 
west corner of Salina and Washington streets; he used 
to go across the lots in the rear of the then shallow build- 
ing on Salina street and enter the rear of his house. 
West of Mr. Malcom's store to Clinton street was a row 
of wooden buildings used as shops and stores. Robert 
McClelland occupied a hat and cap store, D. & J. GrorT 
merchant tailors, Leslies' grocery store at that time was 
in one of these wooden buildings, — they were owned by 
the Syracuse Company. In 1842, this company cleared 
the west half of the block, and erected an unattractive 
but very substantial building of Onondaga limestone, 
and named it after one of their company, the "Townsend 
Block." The Syracuse Company was wealthy and en- 



54 



FROM A FOREST 



ergetic, and composed of some of the best men in the 
State, but to compare their buildings with those of the 
present, it would be seen that both the owners and their 
architects had very crude ideas of the beautiful. The 
Townsend Block remains to-day as it has for forty-six 
years, except that twenty feet of the east end was pur- 
chased at a great price and torn down by Dr. Wieting 
to enlarge the lot for his opera house. The brick build- 
ing on the corner of Salina street was occupied for 
several years by Chas. A. & Horace Wheaton, hardware 
merchants. This building burned down in 1849, the 
vacant lot was bought by Dr. Wieting who erected in 
1850 the best building in the city at that time, with the 
exception of the Empire House. Dr. Wieting was a 
thoughtful and practical man, and in building his block 
did what apparently no other man had done in the con- 
struction of such buildings, that was, to study the wants of 
the people. Previous to the existence of this block there 
was not a public hall with a capacity sufficient for a town 
the size of Syracuse. He took this into consideration 
and fully supplied the demand. The ample capacity 
and elegance of finish of the hall met the requirements 
so essential in places of amusement, for without these an 
entertainment of high order could not be fully enjoyed. 
By this course he made the upper part of his building 
pay him as well as the lower portion, and his block has 
always been a good paying investment. The first Wiet- 
ing Block was burned January 5th, 1856. At that time 
the mercury was several degrees below zero, which made 
it a difficult matter to fight a fire of such magnitude. 



TO A CITY. 55 

The spray from the leaking hose covered the firemen with 
ice. Mr. P. S. Stoddard, an insurance agent, seemed 
more desirous of protecting the interest of his companies 
than himself, his carelessness in exposing himself to the 
jets of water which froze as soon as they touched him 
was remarkable, and in a short time he was covered with 
a sheet of ice, which hung from the skirts of his coat to 
the ground, and gave him a most comical appearance. 
Dr. Wieting's energy would not allow an hour's time to 
be lost in constructing a larger and a more attractive 
block, and in less than a year he dedicated his new hall 
which was much more elegant than the first. This 
second block was burned in 1881. The building of the 
present block, with the opera house, is of so recent a 
date that a description is unnecessary. It is to such men 
as Dr. Wieting that Syracuse is indebted for much of 
its thrift. I know many men of wealth who have been 
doing a successful business for many years, who send 
their surplus money to western States for a larger rate of 
interest, and never pay a dollar to improve and beautify 
the city if they can avoid it. These men (and there are 
not a few) are leeches, gathering money from our city and 
sending it out of town. Dr. Wieting made his money 
to build his first block by lecturing in other cities. I 
think I heard the last lecture he ever delivered in his 
own hall, in which he gave a short history of himself, 
with the struggles and trials of his early life. Without cap- 
ital to start in life, with the disappointments and per- 
plexities of his first experience in the lecture field, how 
he overcame them all and continued to lecture until he 



56 FROM A FOREST 

had earned one hundred thousand dollars, and as he was 
speaking he stepped forward on the platform of Wieting 
Hall, and raising his voice with much feeling said, "and 
I have spent the hundred thousand right here." 

CORNER OF WEST GENESEE AND CLINTON STREETS. 

Previous to the erection of the Clinton Block on the cor- 
ner of West Genesee and Clinton streets, the old Saleratus 
Factory standing here had been a prominent landmark 
in the center of the town from its early history, — the 
buildings, which comprised several stores, were built in 
1824, by Booth & Elliott. At the time of their erection 
they were located in the best part of the town. One 
store was occupied as a book store, one with hats, and 
the third by Mr. Davis for dry goods. The growth of 
the town in other directions left these stores undesirable 
for their line of goods, and they were all used by James 
M. Taylor & Co., for the manufacture of saleratus, and 
during the remainder of their existence went by the 
name of the " Old Saleratus Factory." It did not escape 
the affliction of a coat of lime-wash colored with yellow 
ochre, so common on many brick buildings in those days. 
After manufacturing saleratus here for years, and making 
some money, Mr. Taylor moved to New York. This 
was a loss to Syracuse, for he was a very affable and en- 
ergetic man, admired by all who knew him, perfectly 
honest and upright with his fellow citizens. In 1847, the 
upper part of this old building was occupied as tenements 
for poor families only able to pay cheap rent. In that year 
I met Dr. Hiram Hoyt on the street one day in a great 



TO A CITY. 57 

hurry. I asked him what was the matter? he answered, 
"come with me and we will see." We went to one of 
these tenements where a singular accident had happened. 
A little child had crept close under a window where a 
hammer had been carelessly placed on the parting sash, 
a gust of wind slammed the door, and jarred the hammer 
off, which falling struck the child on the skull. The 
Doctor placed the child on the table, and after an ex- 
amination took a pair of forceps and raised up the piece 
of fractured skull and the child was instantly restored to 
consciousness, — he let it slip off and the child was to all 
appearance dead, — he raised the piece from the brain 
and consciousness was quickly regained ; thus holding 
the child between life and death. Turning to me the 
doctor said, you now see what makes me doubt the im- 
mortality of the mind, as you plainly see when the organ 
of the brain cannot act there is no mind, which proves 
to me that the mind is the result of organization, and 
when that is destroyed, as I have here demonstrated, the 
mind ceases to exist. Under the skillful treatment of the 
physician the child was restored to health. After thirty- 
five years the old saleratus factory together with adjoin- 
ing buildings burnt on the 23rd of August, 1859. The 
most unfortunate result of this fire was that a spark from 
it ignited the tall spire of the First Baptist Church. The 
great height of the spire defied all efforts to extinguish 
the flames, and the new and beautiful edifice was soon 
in ruins. Three churches in Syracuse have suffered 
heavy loss from accidents to their spires. The First 
Methodist Church was at first built with a tall spire 



58 FROM A FOREST 

which was destroyed by a thunderbolt and was replaced 
and a second time demolished in a high wind at the immi- 
nent peril of life and property adjoining. In 1852, the 
Unitarian Church and a dwelling near the church were 
entirely demolished by the falling of the spire in a gale 
of wind. This was a very remarkable catastrophe. It was 
supposed that the spire in its fall struck precisely on the 
ridge of the roof of the church, which slanted in opposite 
directions, with the rafters resting on the side walls, the 
great weight and velocity of the spire, acting as a pry 
upon every foot of the walls at the same moment, forced 
the walls out, and there was not a piece of the side walls 
left on their foundation a foot high. The east end wall 
fell on and completely demolished a frame house in which 
two ladies were sleeping together in the second story and 
they were found the next morning under the broken 
timbers of the house with all the brick wall on the top. 
After removing a great amount of timber and brick the 
ladies were extricated, and strange to say were not hurt 
in the least. It was supposed that they owed their 
safety to the fact that the bedstead had four strong up- 
right posts of four feet in height, and the upper floor in 
desending rested on these posts as the other floors and 
timbers gave way at the same time. It occurred about 
three o'clock Sunday morning, and as the hour for service 
approached the congregation assembled not knowing 
of the destruction of their house of worship until they 
came in sight of the ruins. The superstition and bigotry 
that exists in a less degree to-day I hope, than then, in- 
duced many of the Trinitarians to laugh with evident 



TO A CITY. 59 

satisfaction at these heretics, and at the same time ex- 
pressing the belief that it was a judgment from heaven for 
their unbelief. So universal were these unchristian re- 
marks, that when the unfortunate congregation had all 
assembled around their demolished church, they ad- 
journed to meet at once in the City Hall. Their pastor, 
the Rev. Samuel J. May, preached a very feeling sermon. 
I think I could repeat much of what he said. He first 
exhorted his people to bear up under their unexpected 
misfortune, — stating that the first thing to be done was to 
compensate the man whose house had been destroyed by 
their falling walls. He then preached a sermon which 
was intended as a reply to the uncharitable remarks of 
the Trinitarians. His text was from St. Luke, xiii, 4, 5. 
<; Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siioam fell, 
and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all 
men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay; but ex- 
cept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 

POWDER EXPLOSION. 

Between the old circus house and the Oswego canal 
stood the carpenter shop of Charles Goings, where the 
great explosion of powder took place. On the 21st of 
August, 1841, I was walking along North Salina street 
when I heard the cry of fire! fire! and at nearly the same 
time the church bells sounded the alarm. Soon after 
there came dashing along the street twelve or fifteen 
firemen dragging with the greatest enthusiasm their old 
style fire engine. The foreman with his speaking trumpet 
in his hand which he was swinging over his head hurry- 



60 FROM A FOREST 

ing his men forward by shouting in the greatest excite- 
ment "let her jump! let her jump boys!" and all the 
men at the same time shouting "let her go! let her go!" 
The old machine seemed to bound over the rough cobble 
stones as though it scarcely touched them. This gallant 
company so anxious to save property from the flames, 
little thought that they were rushing into the jaws of 
death, that in a few minutes later their strong arms would 
lay powerless by their sides, and in a moment's time, life 
with all its hopes and anticipations would with them be 
at an end. As I watched them they turned from Salina 
into Willow street. I followed them and found the then 
narrow side-walk filled with a crowd of people, so I 
opened a gate and ran across the corner into the small 
lumber yard of Charles Goings, which was on the op- 
posite side of the street from the fire. The street in 
front of me was densely packed. I was standing between 
two piles of lumber two or three feet apart and eight or 
ten feet high. I thought I would climb to the top of the 
pile and thus have a good place to see. At that moment 
a shout was heard at some distance away " powder ! 
powder! there is powder there!" This seemed to pro- 
duce but little effect as it was thought to be a joke. The 
firemen had taken position on the bank of the Oswego 
canal and had just commenced to play upon the burning 
building when all at once there came a terrific explosion. 
The burning timbers and roof were hurled hundreds of 
feet in the air, and for a moment revealed a sight so 
dreadful and grand that it left a never-to-be-forgotten 
impression on every mind that saw it. The position that 



TO A CITY. 6 1 

I had accidently and most fortunately taken had shielded 
me to a great extent from the effect of the explosion, and 
only those who were in places of comparative safety 
could describe the scene, as the minds of those in ex- 
posed places were a blank at the time of the explosion, 
and those but slightly injured were rendered unconscious 
and seemed to be in a condition similar to that when 
awakened from a troubled dream. Many were prostrate 
on the ground, some swept into the canal, others hurled 
against a tight board fence ; a part of the old circus 
building was blown in with those that were standing 
near it. The many who were prostrated seemed to all 
have the same sense of bewilderment and were moaning 
in the most pitiable voice, "where am I?" "what is this?" 
"what has happened?" The explosion had extinguished 
every particle of fire, the night was dark and the shrieks 
of the wounded and mangled, the low moans of the 
dying, trembling voices calling for relatives and friends 
who been standing by their sides and disappeared in a 
moment in the darkness, produced such a scene that 
a portrayal of it would excel in horror any description 
of Dante's "Inferno" or Goethe's "Dance of Death." 
When the lanterns and lights were brought, the scene of 
horror was beyond description, — twenty-six were found 
dead, ten others so seriously mangled that death to them 
would have seemed a blessing, and forty-three others 
seriously injured. The dead, dying and wounded were 
found lying in all conceivable shapes. One of the 
entire plates of the building, thirty feet in length, was 
stripped from all the rafters that rested upon it and 



62 FROM A FOREST 

hurled into the air, coming down with one end on the 
ground and the other resting upon the old circus build- 
ing. Upon this slanting timber, ten feet from the ground, 
was found a man whose clothing had become tangled in 
the nails and held him fast, and when helped from his 
position he was, strange to say, still alive. The fire 
company that I saw rushing along the street in such hot 
haste were most unfortunate; their gallant foreman who 
swung his speaking trumpet and hurried his company 
forward, was a much respected merchant, Hugh T. 
Gibson. A flying timber had struck him under the chin 
and swept his head nearly from his body. He was iden- 
tified by a suggestion of Harlow DeWolf, who was a clerk 
in the store of Gibson & Tefft, and had noticed that Mr. 
Gibson had worn on that day a pair of pants the cloth of 
which was from a piece then in the store, — a sample was 
sent for and by this means he was identified as being Mr. 
Gibson without a doubt. The anguish of the mangled 
sufferers and the shock of this sudden bereavement, filled 
the whole village with sorrow. So universal was the 
sadness that nowhere could be heard merriment or 
laughter, every face seemed to wear the impress of sorrow 
and grief. The next day was Saturday, usually the 
busiest day of the week, but every store was closed and 
draped and the whole village was in mourning for the 
seventy-nine dead and wounded that were in their midst. 
The Sunday following was truly a day of sorrow and 
gloom; there were funerals in all the churches attended 
by nearly the whole population. There was a large fund 
contributed by the citizens for the sufferers. The owners 



TO A CITY. 6$ 

of the powder, Messrs. Hudson & Malcom, contributed 
$1,000 There was six hundred pounds of powder on 
the second floor of the building, — had the powder been 
on the lower floor, it was thought that few would have 
escaped with their lives. 

EARLY HISTORY OF BUSINESS ON SALINA STREET FROM 
WATER STREET SOUTH. 

A partial description of the corner of Salina and Water 
streets has already been given ; a more detailed history 
of this now very important corner may be interesting. 
William Malcolm was the first hardware merchant who 
made that business a specialty. The first merchants 
carried a general assortment of goods. Mr. Malcolm 
was an energetic and successful businessman; he located 
his store on what he supposed was the corner lot of 
Salina and Water streets. At that date John Lathrop 
had not completed his map for the Syracuse Company 
and lines were not so carefully looked after when land 
was cheap and the country was new. Mr. Malcom did 
not care to crowd his building towards Salina street, but 
preferred a good space for teams to load and unload on 
that side of his store. Mr. Archie Kasson made his 
appearance here a year later ; he had been engaged in 
the hardware business for several years previous and 
came here to continue the same. He desired to locate 
near the canal that his heavy goods might be rolled into 
his store from the boats. He proposed purchasing a lut 
a few rods west of Mr. Malcom's store. Mr. Malcom 
tried to persuade him that there was not trade enough to 



64 FROM A FOKEST 

sustain two stores so near together ; Mr. Kasson thought 
differently and words passed between them. Mr. Kasson 
took offense and proceeded to investigate the precise 
boundaries of Mr. Malcom's lines which revealed the 
fact that there were thirty feet between Mr. Malcom's 
east line and Salina street, this Mr. Kasson at once pur- 
chased, and before Mr. Malcom was aware of what was 
going on, had commenced a small wooden building for a 
store. These neighbors did not harmonize, which re- 
sulted in Mr. Kasson moving away his building and 
erecting a brick store, thus closing up the windows and 
doors of Mr. Malcom's building on the Salina street side; 
this store (previously described) was sold soon after com- 
pletion to E. Lynds & Son, who in turn were succeeded 
by H. & C. A. Wheaton. For this account of the affair 
between the two men I am indebted to Daniel Elliott of 
the firm of Booth & Elliott, who were the earliest build- 
ers in Syracuse, and constructed the brick building for 
Mr. Archie Kasson. Mr. Malcom was considered one 
of the best men of the place and had the confidence of 
all that knew him. He bought and sold only the best, 
and goods bought at his store needed no other recom- 
mend ; they were always found just as they were rep- 
resented. He was kind and liberal to his customers, 
giving them long credit. In those days there were many 
poor people struggling to build their simple homes, and to 
this class Mr. Malcom was very kind. He had a remark- 
able power to discern a man's character and honest men 
were never refused credit at his store. These good quali- 
ties were remembered of him in after years, when some 



TO A CITY. 65 

of those he had assisted became men of wealth and many- 
had some story to tell of Mr. Malcolm's kindness. In the 
year 1820 the canal commissioners opened a boat naviga- 
tion from the Salina canal to the lake and also to the 
Seneca river. Nearly the first use made of the new 
water way was to float the timber for a building to be 
erected on Salina street on the second lot south of Water 
street by James Pease, a young man from Lysander, who 
cut the timber from his father's farm, drew it to Bald- 
winsville, had it sawed and framed, the timbers ready to 
put together, shipped it on a scow and unloaded it on 
the bank of the canal near where the liberty pole is 
standing. In his new store Mr. Pease carried on the boot 
and shoe business for many years. Between Mr. Pease's 
store and the corner was an alley for teams to drive in 
the rear of the stores, and this alley was to remain open 
" forever," but to-day its precise location is obliterated by 
walls of brick and stone. As the years went by the Pease 
lot became too valuable for such a structure and the old 
wooden building was removed and a brick one took its 
place. The lower floor was occupied by the Mechanic's 
Bank and the upper one by Dr. Amos Westcott's dental 
rooms. This building was destroyed by fire with the 
Weiting Block and the lot purchased by Dr. Weiting. 
The next building south was of wood and erected by Mr. 
Kneeland about the year 1823. Most of these primitive 
wooden buildings on this part of Salina street would be 
of little interest to the reader who would not care for a 
description ; they were removed at nearly the same time, 
with the exception of the dwelling house of Mr. Malcolm 



66 FROM A FOREST 

on the corner of Washington and Salina streets. Brick 
structures then took their place, which were very un- 
attractive in appearance, and if they could be seen for a 
day as they appeared about the year 1840, the street 
would be filled with citizens to observe so great a curios- 
ity in the way of architecture. There were four build- 
ings three stories in height, the fronts of the stores con- 
taining three doors, one over the other on each story 
with a window each side of the door; the doors made 
by nailing narrow strips together on an angle and were 
without a panel or moulding. Over the upper door was 
heavy timber projecting out over the walk with a chain 
and pulley for raising and lowering merchandise from 
the side walk to the lofts above; these chains, with boxes 
and barrels over the side-walk, made an unsightly appear- 
ance, and it sometimes happened that the chains with 
their huge hooks would be left hanging so low that it 
would painfully remind some elevated head of the fact 
when passing by unconscious of any danger. On one 
occasion a clerk was standing in the second story door- 
way when a sudden gust of wind blew the door against 
him with such force as to push him forward several feet, 
and he came down straight as an arrow, striking squarely 
on his feet, and strange to say, was not seriously hurt. In 
the year 1846 the principal business places on the west 
side of Salina street between Washington and Water 
streets were Bedell's hotel, D. Y. Foot's drug store, Ash- 
ley & Williston's furniture, S. P. Pierce, crockery, and 
Hall, Rhodes & Sherman, hardware store. The last 
named firm did a large business here for ten years. For 



TO A CITY. 67 

many years Mr. Hall was an active politician, a Jack- 
sonian ; in 1831 he was elected sheriff on the Democratic 
ticket; in 1837 he was candidate for the Assembly but 
was not elected in consequence of the unpopularity of 
his party through Jackson's quarrel with the United 
States Bank and the financial crisis of that year. In 1838 
he was appointed County Judge which ended his career 
in politics. His large acquaintance and popularity gave 
the firm of Hall, Rhodes & Sherman a trade that resulted 
in a financial success. They were succeeded by Strong, 
Fink & Penniman, and they in turn by Geo. and Giles 
Everson. 

Mr. Malcolm's wooden dwelling was the last of its kind 
left standing in the center of the town. It was about thirty 
by forty feet in size, the Salina street front was finished 
with plain ceiling, with pilasters between the doors and 
windows, and the old style oriel window in the gable; in 
appearance it had been the pride of the village, but the 
year before Syracuse became a city the old landmark 
bade adieu to the centre of the town and modestly gave 
place to the Malcolm block which was completed in 1847; 
the upper story was finished for a public hall and was 
well patronized for lectures and entertainments. A 
description of one of these may be interesting and also 
serve to contrast the past with the present. Dr. Dodd 
gave a course of lectures in Malcolm Hall on what he 
termed psychology; the Doctor was a good speaker and 
was capable of making almost any subject interesting. He 
drew crowded houses for more than a week. His science 
was nothing more than magnetism under a different name. 



68 TROM A FOREST 

His method was this, — to invite twenty-five or thirty 
of the audience who were willing to be made subjects 
to take seats forward, and he would then place a piece 
of zinc about an inch in size, with a half-dime in the 
centre, in the hand of each ; they were to look very atten- 
tively at this coin for twenty minutes, then the Doctor 
would take each one in turn by the hand and pressing 
firmly with his thumb the ulnar nerve on the back of 
the hand near the second and third fingers would 
assume the most positive manner toward the subject and 
command him to shut his eyes, and would then say " now 
you can't open your eyes," which would sometimes be 
the case. He would always find two or three in the 
thirty who were susceptible ; these he would take on the 
stage and perform many remarkable experiments with 
them while in the psychological state, such as to com- 
mand them to revolve one hand over the other with a 
rotary motion, he would say "faster, faster, now you can't 
stop," and they would keep their hands whirling one 
over the other to the great amusement of the audience. 
So popular were the lectures at the time that many came 
for miles from the country to attend them. After the 
lectures the Doctor formed a class and taught the science, 
each student paying ten dollars and solemnly promising 
not to reveal the secret. Many of our best citizens in- 
vested. 

About the year 1831 the little building standing on the 
north east corner of Salina and Washington streets, which 
has been described as renting for six shillings per week, 
was removed by the Syracuse Co., and foundation walls 



TO A CITY. 69 

laid for a considerable building to be known as the Ex- 
change Hotel. Its first proprietors were Van Patten & 
Crane. While the building was in process of construc- 
tion, a great storm arose and blew the end walls and 
scaffolding upon the little primitive buildings standing 
between that point and the Syracuse House, completely 
demolishing two and damaging several others. The 
storm was terrific in its appearance while approaching, 
the fleecy white clouds underlying the dark massive 
storm clouds from which the lightning seemed to be con- 
stantly flashing. This ominous appearance inspired fear 
in all beholders and together with the unfinished building 
high over their little buildings alarmed the inmates and 
they took refuge in safer quarters ; this precaution saved 
their lives. The accident hastened the construction of a 
better class of buildings between this point and the Syra- 
cuse House, and all of these buildings have been from 
time to time remodeled until there is no resemblance to 
the original structures. The old Exchange with its high 
gable walls long since gave place to the more modern 
mansard roof and many external ornaments, unknown to 
the original architects. One prominent feature of the 
hotel was Library Hall; it was the first and for years the 
most important hall in the village, the ceiling was arched 
and frescoed, the first that was done in the place. One 
of the best artists in New York was employed to do the 
work, which comprised a variety of nearly life size figures, 
such as the Goddess of Liberty with her scales of justice 
in one hand and in the other the staff on which the stars 
and stripes were unfurled in a most graceful manner, 



70 FROM A FOREST 

making a fine appearance when the hall was lighted. To 
give any thing like a fair description of the beauty of this 
ceiling would require too much space and it is more than 
forty years since I have seen them. An account of the 
many lectures delivered in this hall in the early days of 
Syracuse would be interesting reading, as showing the 
advancement of civilization in Syracuse. This last 
sentence will be regarded as a remarkable expression, 
but still I can use none other to answer my purpose as 
well. During the days of the anti-slavery agitation, it 
was announced that Abbie Kelley and a Quaker from 
Skaneateles, named Fuller, would lecture in Library Hall 
on anti-slavery. When the hour arrived the hall was 
filled, but not with the best citizens, who at that time 
felt it would be a disgrace for them to be seen at such a 
lecture. The position and arguments of the speakers 
were the great wrongs of slavery, which were portrayed 
in the most feeling and touching language ; they did not 
advocate nor contemplate abolition of slavery in the 
states by Congress or any other branch of the national 
government. Their ideas being that slavery might be 
abolished by moral influence, with such incidental aid as 
the national government could constitutionally afford 
and without disturbing the union of the states; that the 
wrongs of slavery were so appalling in the sight of God, 
that the people ought to be educated to see the magni- 
tude of this national sin. For the expression of these 
Christian and humane sentiments, they were mobbed 
and egged by citizens of Syracuse. It seems impossible 
that such an outrage could have ever taken place in our 




WEST END OF THE OLD DEPOT. 



TO A CITY. 71 

midst, when the provocation was only the attacking of 
the monstrous absurdity that one man could own another 
man, and that his title was the same as that by which he 
owned his horse or his ox. The flexibility of public 
opinion is demonstrated when a few years later we con- 
trast this occurrence with that of a few of our citizens, 
who opposed the whole power of the government and 
peaceably rescued the slave Jerry. 

THE OLD DEPOT. 

About the year T838, E. W. Leavenworth, president of 
the village, drafted a resolution granting to the Syracuse 
& Utica R. R. Co., the right of way, and the privilege of 
constructing a depot in the center of the street between 
Salina and Warren street. For these privileges the com- 
pany was required to build a sewer through the street, 
lay flagstone walks, plant trees, keep the street in repair, 
and also purchase sufficient land for an alley each side 
of the depot. The railroad company contracted with 
Daniel Elliott to build the depot. It was a wooden 
building twenty feet high, sufficiently wide for two tracks 
and a raised platform ten feet wide on each side, which 
was on a level with the platform of the cars. There was 
one foot space between the two and a better place for an 
accident could not have been invented. The building 
was a mere shell, and as badly contrived for the purpose 
for which it was intended as possible. In the west end 
there were stairs leading from the platform to the waiting 
room above; this was not expected to accommodate 
more than thirty or forty persons at one time. There 



72 FROM A FOREST 

was also a small room for the Superintendent and a 
ticket office; this was found so inconvenient that it was 
removed. There was a small belfry with a bell that was 
rung fifteen minutes before the departure of each train, 
as in those days there was nothing more uncertain than 
the time when the train would leave, as there was but 
one track and no telegraph lines. If a train was adver- 
tised to leave at nine o'clock for the east, a passenger 
would hurry and take his seat and sometimes it would be 
an hour or two before the train would start, as the east- 
ern train must be in and the track clear before it was 
safe to proceed in that direction. These delays were a 
great inconvenience to the travelling public, — the quiet 
and patient submitted with good grace, saying, that what 
could not be helped must be endured ; while the nervous 
and impatient were loud in their denunciation of such 
management. There was no better school to study 
human character than here. Quite an amusing incident 
occurred on a time when the train and passengers for 
nearly three hours had been expected to start west ; the 
passengers were out of all patience and weary of hearing 
the roar of the steam escaping through the safety valve. 
There was a Russian officer on board who, observing the 
impatience and feeling much annoyed himself, seemingly 
forgot his locality, and stepping out proceeded to the 
engineer and commanded him to move on with his train. 
The only response he received was a hearty chuckle 
from the fireman. The officer flew into a great rage and 
said, " by the power vested in me by the Czar of Russia 
I command this train to move on !" (at the same time 



TO A CITY. 73 

bringing his foot down with great force.) The engineer 

said to him that the Czar might go to , and if he 

could not wait until the conductor pulled the bell cord, 
he could proceed on foot. It was explained that in 
Russia all superior officers have power over inferiors in 
such cases. In 1848, E. B. Alvord built a small brick 
building on the corner of Warren street where the Uni- 
versity Block now stands, and named it the " California 
House." There were wide doors to the dining room, 
and directly opposite there was an arched opening into 
the depot, and as the train came in the tables in Mr. 
Alvord's dining room were in full view of the passengers 
a few feet distant. This was so convenient that he 
secured nearly .all the patronage from the hotels. To 
obviate this, the hotel proprietors influenced the Super- 
intendent to close up the opening in the depot. This 
spoilt Mr. Alvord's trade, — he thereupon broke down the 
door at the approach of the principal train, declaring 
that the depot was in the street and that the Railroad 
Company had no right to obstruct the highway. Mr. 
Alvord was arrested and gave bail. The next day the 
door was replaced, and on the approach of the train Mr. 
Alvord broke down the door. He had an understanding 
with the officers to so faciliate the arrest, conviction and 
signing the bail bond, that he was able to be back and 
assist in serving his guests. This very remarkable and 
strange proceeding was continued for many days, and 
those who sympathized with Mr. Alvord declared him to 
be a hero, but the contest was so unequal that he finally 



74 FROM A FOREST 

concluded that discretion was the better part of valor, 
and the archway in the old depot remained closed. 

The greatest noise that was ever heard in this city 
occurred at the old depot in 1858. When it was an- 
nounced that the first Atlantic Telegraph cable had been 
successfully laid, the press of our city resolved to cele- 
brate the achievement. One part of the program was 
that a train of thirteen locomotives should be located in 
the old depot and that they open their noisy whistles 
and all the church bells in the city should commence to 
ring at the discharge of the first cannon. This part of 
the program was carried out as the signal was given, and 
the most unearthly shriek that the human ear ever heard 
was the result. Though the cannon were fired and the 
bells were rung, their sound was not heard above the 
shriek of the engines. The effect upon the listeners was 
most appalling, producing an electric shock that made 
the strongest turn pale; some women and children were 
thrown into convulsions and did not fully recover from 
the shock for days, and everyone present was glad when 
the noise ceased. The streets were densely packed and 
enthusiastic speakers made congratulatory remarks until 
late in the evening. In the winter of 1867, the Railroad 
Company resolved to remove the dilapidated old struct- 
ure that had been an eyesore in the center of the city so 
many years, accordingly one Saturday, messengers were 
sent to all the shops where large numbers of men were 
employed, with word that the old depot would be tern 
down on Sunday, and the lumber given for wood to all 
that would carry it away on that day, and large numbers 



TO A CITY. 75 

were on hand prepared to make the most of the oppor- 
tunity. The building was about twelve rods long, and 
the amount of wood was immense. The Railroad Com- 
pany with a engine and cable pulled it down and it was 
soon carried away. On Monday morning there was not 
a stick to be seen on the ground. The change in the 
place was so great that citizens who came suddenly upon 
the familiar location were amazed at the transformation 
a day had wrought. 

THE WEST SIDE OF SOUTH SALINA STREET BETWEEN 
WASHINGTON AND FAYETTE. 

That part of South Salina street between Washington 
and Fayette streets was for a number of years the prop- 
erty of three men. Mr. John Wilkinson and Wm. B. 
Kirk owned the corner lots ; they were men of mental 
capacity, but dissimilar in other respects. I feel to en- 
courage that class of young men who are to commence 
the journey of life without capital to aid them. If they 
study well the successful men of our city and the great 
men of our nation including Lincoln and Garfield, they 
will be benefitted thereby. These men all commenced 
life poor, and I would say to these young men that so far 
as my observation extends, it more frequently happens 
that those who begin life poor are the most successful in 
reaching places of position and wealth. As one of a 
great number I could mention, John Wilkinson is a good 
example for young men to emulate. He had the energy 
and determination to overcome all the difficulties that 
were thrown in his way. The Academy at Onondaga 



76 FROM A FOREST 

Valley was thirteen miles from his home and sometimes 
for six months he would make the journey twice a week. 
Monday morning as soon as it was dawn he would start 
for school on foot, with the provisions to last him a week 
in the knapsack on his back. A young man willing to 
endure such hardships to gain an education would be 
sure to waste no time in the pursuit of his studies. His 
diligence and perseverance attracted the attention of 
Judge Forman, a patron of the school who gave him a 
position in his office to study law. After completing his 
studies, his first work was to assist in surveying the 
Walton tract into village lots, after which he built in the 
year 1820 a small building for a law office on the corner 
of Washington and Salina streets ; at this time there were 
no other buildings near him as this point was almost in 
the forest. A few years later he built a dwelling house 
south of his office where he lived for many years. He 
was the first clerk of the village, the first postmaster, the 
first president of the Utica and Syracuse Railroad, and 
later president and manager of several railroads in the 
western states, and always holding the best interests of 
Syracuse in the highest esteem. In the year 1846 the lot 
where his office and house for so many years had been 
standing was made vacant and the Globe Hotel was 
erected. Its external appearance has changed but little 
for over forty years. In 1824 the Syracuse Company 
sold the lot on the corner of Salina and Fayette streets 
to John Garrison, who built a tavern, a low two story 
building with a cheap piazza the whole length of its front 
on Salina street. Mr. Garrison was a man of limited 



TO A CITY. 77 

means. He cut the scattering pine trees which were 
standing on the west side of Clinton and Fayette streets, 
drew them to the saw-mill on west Water street, and had 
the logs sawed for his tavern. He was in need of a lumber 
wagon which he purchased on credit of William B. Kirk, 
who was then a wagon maker at Cardiff. Soon after 
the completion of the building Mr. Garrison died and in 
order to collect his debt for the wagon, Mr. Kirk bought 
the tavern and moved here in 1826. Mr. Kirk was fond 
of relating this to show how a circumstance changed his 
life from a mechanic to a tavern keeper. Mr. Kirk was 
popular with the country people who usually patronized 
his house. If I were writing a history of men it would 
be difficult to find a man who had made a fortune with 
less activity or one that circumstances had favored more 
than Mr. Kirk. A particular circumstance led him to 
invest a large part of his capital in the Central Railroad 
stock in its early days. From this investment a large 
part of his wealth was accumulated. In the year 1859 
the old tavern was moved away and the Kirk Block took 
its place. This block was designed for a hotel. While 
Mr. Pulver was proprietor an accident happened that 
came near being very serious ; two barrels of burning 
fluid in the cellar caught fire, and owing to its 
volatile nature there was an immense amount of black 
smoke generated in a few seconds, which filled the lower 
floors and stairways so densely that the lady boarders in 
their rooms were unable to make their exit, and were 
driven to the upper story to avoid suffocation ; they ap- 
peared at the windows half dead from fright and suffoca- 



78 FROM A FOREST 

tion, and in their frenzy were determined to jump from 
the third story, while a hundred voices were shouting to 
them some one and some another thing; Dr. Westcott 
appeared on the scene and gaining their confidence told 
them it would be sure death if they jumped, that ladders 
would be there in a few moments, and pledged himself 
that if they would be calm he would be responsible for 
their safety. Meanwhile Mrs. Cloyde, one of their num- 
ber, found a ladder that lead to the scuttle on the roof, 
which she opened and thus found a way of rescue; in a 
few moments all were safely descending from the roof 
through the scuttle of the Globe Hotel, the fire was 
checked after the fluid was burned and no great loss 
occurred. That block is now (1889) being torn down 
preparatory to the erection of a much finer one on the 
same site by Mr. Kirk's son, Wm. B., who is the present 
Mayor of the city. 

VANDERBILT SQUARE TO FAYETTE STREET. 

The block south of Vanderbilt Square was not entirely 
cleared of its native forest trees in 1824. It was then 
owned by the Syracuse Company. In that year three 
members of the Company gave the lot now occupied by 
McCarthy's store to the Presbyterian society who built a 
church there in 1825. This was quite a small church 
even for those days, and as the society increased in num- 
bers it was soon necessary to enlarge it. Many thought 
at the time that it was built too far away from the village, 
and much complaint was made of the mud encountered 
in going to the services; but the little white church with 



TO A CITY. 79 

its green blinds made a pretty appearance among a few- 
tall forest trees near by, and as the lot was a gift, the 
long walk was endured with a good grace. Rev. John 
Watson Adams was pastor for twenty-four years, and 
lived for several years on Franklin street; he died at the 
Empire House in 1850. Dr. Adams was graduated from 
the Theological Seminary at Auburn, N. Y., and com- 
menced his life work as the pastor of this church, where 
he continued his labors for a quarter of a century. 
Under his leadership the church met with no reverses 
and constantly increased in numbers and wealth and he 
left it one of the strongest and wealthiest churches in the 
city. A singular coincidence was the circumstance that 
on the day the last portion of his old church was re- 
moved to give place to the Dillaye Block, Dr. Adams 
breathed his last. His life and the scene of his life's 
exertions as if in sympathy, becoming events of the past 
at the same time. The best men of the city have 
filled the offices of this church. It commenced with a 
membership of twenty-six persons and had seven trustees, 
one of whom was Joshua Forman, who raised the money 
to build the church, by circulating a subscription paper 
himself, obtaining eighty-three names. In 1829 some 
children playing around the foundations of the church, 
looking in a small opening left in the wall under the floor 
for a ventilator, discovered a string ; one of the number, 
child like, pulled it out and found a tin can fastened to 
the end of the string containing seven hundred dollars. 
A short time previous several stores had been robbed 



8o FROM A FOREST 

and the money had been secreted here, but by this for- 
tunate circumstance was restored. 

In the year 1839 Hamilton and Horace White con- 
tracted with Daniel Eliott to build, on the corner where 
the White Memorial building is located, a two and a half 
story brick building ; it was very plain and substantial, 
and was used for the Bank of Syracuse and also the 
Onondaga County Bank. The lower floor was for many 
years occupied by the American Express Company. Be- 
tween this building and the church were several two 
story brick buildings which were quite small and of poor 
appearance. In 1850 Henry A. Dillaye bought the old 
church property and built a very fine five story building, 
covering the entire lot, in beauty and elegance of finish 
surpassing any other building on South Salina street. It 
had the appearance of standing alone, and it was thought 
to be too far removed from the center of business to rent 
well ; however it proved to be a first class investment, 
and those owning the small stores between the Bank 
building and the Dillaye block caught the inspiration 
and the fronts were taken out and the stores raised up 
and, greatly improved in looks. In 1855 the Dillaye block 
burnt down, and was rebuilt in 1856, and was soon after 
purchased by Dennis McCarthy for a dry goods store. 

SOUTH SALTNA STREET FROM FAYETTE TO ONONDAGA. 

That portion of the city previously described had been 
reclaimed from the forest, and put in a suitable condition 
for the erection of buildings, but on reaching that point 
south of East Fayette street and along the line of South 
Salina street to Billings Park, it is necessary to show 



TO A CITY. 8 1 

what was accomplished before the present spacious 
and elegant buildings could be erected. The underbrush 
of the forest was removed, the water courses changed, 
the smaller hills removed, and the ravines filled. It is 
also due to mention the names of those who have long 
been sleeping in their graves, but who while in life with 
their strong arms and muscle toiled and labored to pre- 
pare the soil for our gardens and beautiful lawns. This 
locality was a part of the Walton tract, and when it came 
into the possession of the Syracuse Company in 1824, the 
heavier timber had been removed ; but still it was 
covered with stumps and underbrush. The Company's 
first work was to clear it ; they built a farm-house with 
barn and corn house near the corner of Jefferson and 
Salina streets. The Company placed John Husenfrats 
in the house and contracted with him to clear the land 
per acre, after which he was allowed to cultivate it. For 
years this hard working German with his men and ox 
team labored to remove trees, brush and stumps until 
he could see from Salina street to Mulberry street his 
acres of corn, potatoes and fields of waving grain. In 
1825 the ground over which Salina street was constructed 
was very uneven, a few rods north of Jefferson street 
there was a deep ravine fifteen feet in depth crossing 
Salina street through which a stream called Yellow 
brook found its way to the mill pond. The banks of this 
stream were lined with flags and weeds, and sometimes a 
person crossing the bridge on Salina street might see a 
musk rat or wild duck skulking in the flags to hide out of 
sight. On the banks of this creek a Mr. White built a 



82 FROM A FOREST 

small house on the west side of Salina street; he kept a 
boat chained under the bridge, and when he wanted fish 
for his breakfast, if he could not take enough from under 
the bridge in front of where the Washington block now 
stands, he would unchain his boat and row out to where 
the Armory is now, and cast his anchor in ten or fifteen 
feet of water and soon catch a fine lot of fish. It will 
seem very remarkable to many who read these pages that 
this locality should ever have been fishing ground. The 
topography of South Salina street has been greatly 
changed from its natural state. Between Jefferson and 
Onondaga streets the ground was rolling and in some 
places has been cut down six feet while from the canal 
(including Hanover Square) to Jefferson street it has 
been raised from three to twelve feet. This part of the 
early village, was, on account of the swampy nature of 
the soil after a rain, rendered nearly impassable for per- 
sons on foot or with teams ; the latter if loaded were 
often stuck fast in the mud. Kirk's tavern, built on the 
corner of Fayette and Salina streets in 1826, and other 
boarding houses in the vicinity were seldom patronized 
by boarders on account of the mud encountered in going 
to and from their meals. It is hardly possible to fully 
describe the muddy condition of the streets before we 
had sewers and pavements. I am at a loss to account 
for this when I consider the immense beds of gravel 
underlying many parts of the city. Syracuse was some- 
times called the " City of Mud." When the Erie canal 
was first filled, the water as it came flowing with a rapid 
current from the east disappeared as it came to the point 



TO A CITY. 83 

where the swing bridge crosses Salina street the flow of 
water was increased to the greatest possible capacity but 
still it all disappeared in the ground at this point. For 
a while it was thought that for this reason the whole 
project would fail from this unlooked for condition. It 
was discovered that this exceedingly porous condition of 
the soil was confined to a small surface, and it was 
obviated by excavating a few feet deeper and filling in 
with blue clay and hammering it to a hard surface, after 
which the water flowed onward to Clinton street, when 
it disappeared again, and the difficulty was overcome in 
the same way. There is an immense bed of gravel 
underlying the vicinity of Harrison street, when a little 
south of this point it suddenly terminates and blue clay 
to a great depth is found. In fact the geological forma- 
tion of this whole valley is a mystery. While workmen 
were boring for salt near Harbor brook they struck a 
pine log eighty-six feet below the surface ; it was posi- 
tively certain that the log was found at this depth, but 
how it came there is a mystery. The strongest salt water 
is universally found in the lowest deposits of gravel. In 
the year 1823 Mr. Adams manufactured brick on the 
west side of South Salina street midway between Jefferson 
and Onondaga streets and had much trouble in delivering 
his brick on account of the muddy roads. As the swamps 
near Fayette Park were cleared up and drained Yellow 
brook became nearly dry. In the year 1831 John Wall 
took the contract for one thousand dollars to cut down 
South Salina street south of Jefferson street, fill the ravine 
and raise Salina street between Fayette street and the 



84 FROM A FOREST 

canal according to plans and specifications prepared by 
E. W. Leavenworth. This was the first great tax of the 
little village and to some it was oppressive. This filling 
up the ravine for the purpose of making the highway- 
level left the lots north from Jefferson street nearly to 
Fayette street too low to be desirable for dwellings ; a 
large portion was surrounded with a board fence and 
occupied by P. N. Rust as a wood yard for the Syracuse 
House. The side-walk on South Salina street at this 
point was on a level with this high board fence. About 
the year 1831 there was a sizeable brick hotel built on 
the corner of Salina and Fayette streets. The building 
was after the architecture of those days, with the end 
walls carried several feet above the roof, its greatest 
depth was on Fayette street, a wide platform extended 
across the Salina street front with the entrance to the 
office and bar-room. In 1845 Mr. Anderson was the 
proprietor and was very popular for setting a good table 
for his guests. It was said that a pig baked whole was 
placed on his table every day for dinner, this dish, nearly 
obsolete now was very popular then. The pig was 
slaughtered when about four weeks old, stuffed as we do 
our turkeys, and baked, then with a cracker in its mouth 
placed on a large platter and made an attractive appear- 
ance on the table. The following story is related, the 
truth of which, however, I cannot vouch for. It was told 
that a hungry teamster from Cicero, who had driven in 
with a load of salt barrels made his appearance here ; 
being in a great hurry for his dinner, which was not quite 
ready, he was allowed to go to the dining-room where he 



TO A CITY. 85 

found nothing on the table as yet but the baked pig, but 
unobserved he seated himself by this dish and soon de- 
voured the animal. By this time the waiter made her 
appearance and enquired if he would have pudding or 
pie ; he replied he cared for neither, but if they had an- 
other little hog he would be thankful for it. 

East of the hotel on Fayette street were several wooden 
dwellings built about the year 1828 by the Syracuse 
Company from the forest trees which were standing on 
the lots near by. There was but little sawed timber used 
in their construction, as the trees were hewn into shape 
with an ax, the lower joists were small straight trees with 
one side flattened on which to lay the floors. When 
the Presbyterian society bought the property the hotel 
was torn down and the wooden buildings were moved 
away. One of them is the property of the writer, and is 
now standing on block 142, South Salina street, and it is 
thought to be one of the oldest wooden buildings in the 
city. The present Presbyterian church was completed 
and dedicated the 24th of November, 1850. There was 
never a public building erected in Syracuse where greater 
value was secured for every dollar expended than this 
church. The building committee was composed of 
many of the very best men of the place, some of them 
practical builders and architects themselves. They called 
to their aid M. Lefever of New York, then the most pop- 
ular architect in the United States, who furnished the 
drawings. This elegant edifice was finished at a cost of 
$40,000, the lot cost $1 0,000. Several years later the 
interior was remodeled with beautiful designs at an addi- 



CO FROM A FOREST 

tional expense of $10,000. At the completion of the 
spire, appropriate services were held and speeches made. 
The last stone was placed on the spire by a woman's 
hand ; she was a daughter of the master builder, and was 
drawn up in a basket when amid the roar of cannon she 
placed the last ornament on the tallest spire in western 
New York. There was, however, a great mistake made 
in the selection of building material. The red sandstone 
of which it was constructed was procured at Fulton, N. 
Y., and experience has proved the stone too soft to en- 
dure the changes of our climate ; they crumble and chip 
off, and the once beautiful caps upon the many turrets 
were soon a shapeless mass of stone but were replaced 
by a harder material. The cap upon the spire was 
thought to be unsafe and several years ago the contract 
was let to remove it. The contractor after lashing his 
ladders to the spire, failed in courage to ascend to the 
top and remove the cap, when Wm. Baumgrass (a painter 
by trade) volunteered, and amid the shouts of a large 
number of observers, quickly climbed the ladders and 
broke the stone in pieces with a hammer. Mr. Baum- 
grass lost his life some years later while performing a 
much less dangerous feat. While walking on a coping a 
few inches wide, projecting from the front of a three 
story building he fell to the side-walk and was killed. 

Every citizen owes a debt of gratitude to the public 
spirited and energetic men who have devoted their 
energy and ability in beautifying the city with elegant 
buildings. No man was entitled to more credit in mak- 
ing South Salina street what it is to day than Henry A. 



TO A CITY. 87 

Dillaye ; he had built one fine building somewhat remote 
from the business part of the town, and men had been 
found to fill up the vacancy with a good class of stores. 
He resolved to repeat the experiment on a much larger 
scale. Accordingly he purchased a lot midway between 
Fayette and Jefferson streets. So intense was Mr. Dil- 
laye 's desire to erect a beautiful and faultless building 
that he spent a week in the streets of New York and 
Philadelphia to examine and find something that would 
satisfy his tastes ; by this course he could see how the 
building would appear when finished. The building he 
decided upon was externally highly ornamented ; the 
caps and sills to the windows were cast iron, and the caps 
were arched and of a heavy and beautiful design in carv- 
ing. He at once gave an order for castings from the 
same mould. The building on Salina street was two 
stories in width, of a great depth and seventy feet in 
height ; the lower story was eighteen feet between joists, 
the second fifteen feet. At this time plate glass had not 
yet been introduced here; this building was supplied 
with this costly article The store fronts contained four 
lights twelve feet in height ; water pipes were carried to 
every floor that each story could be flooded in case of 
fire. The store was completed with all the ornamenta- 
tion of its New York pattern, the brick side-walk was 
removed and flagstones sixteen feet in width were laid 
in front of this beautiful structure. On its completion his 
next work was to build up the remaining vacant lots. 
His scheme was to find six capitalists who were willing 
to pledge themselves to each erect a building after a 



88 FROM A FOREST 

uniform plan, and to be called the Washington block. 
After much perseverance Mr. Dillaye found the parties. 
One of the gentlemen failed to perform his part of the 
contract, and rather than have the whole project fail Mr. 
Alfred Hovey agreed to build two of the stores, conse- 
quently the six stores were completed. This however 
did not fill the space between the church and the store 
first erected. Mr. Dillaye then built the fine store next 
the church and in the year 1857 the space was finally 
filled by the erection of three stores, Mr. Dillaye building 
one of the three. Thus it will be seen that Henry A. 
Dillaye was justly entitled to the credit of building up 
this part of the street with uniform and stately buildings 
several years sooner than they would otherwise have 
been if not for his perseverance in the matter. Unfor- 
tunately he had hardly time to view with pride and satis- 
faction the accomplishment of his undertaking, when a 
fire occurred in the building just completed ; he had 
rented it for a grocery and the occupant had not held 
possession two weeks before a fire broke out that proved 
to be destructive ; two or three stores were entirely con- 
sumed and several others more or less damaged. For- 
tunately for the owners they were well insured and the 
stores were soon rebuilt. 

In the days of which I am writing building was very 
different than now. Men with large means were seldom 
found, and there were no Savings Banks where loans on 
real estate could be procured. An advertisement, 
" money to loan," would have been a curiosity seldom 
seen. When Syracuse was chartered a village there were 



TO A CITY. 89 

less than forty banks in the State, and we now have sev- 
eral men that are worth more money than the capital 
combined in all the banks of our State at that time. The 
longest period the banks were willing to loan their money 
was for ninety days, and it was their custom every few 
years to call in their money by refusing to discount. This 
produced a scarcity of money in circulation, and a panic 
or a " financial crisis," as it was called was the result, 
and woe unto the poor fellow whose obligations were 
due. If he had not the ready money to pay his debts, 
he must go under. Many a substantial business man 
failed because money could not be had on the best of 
security. Under such conditions men were heroes who 
were willing to take their chances in erecting buildings 
for a public improvement. Although this elegant block 
of stores excelled all others in the city at that date, and 
were soon occupied by the best merchants in the place, 
yet strange to say in a short time every one failed and all 
moved out leaving the stores unoccupied, and they re- 
mained so for years despite every effort of their owners 
to rent them at a small rent. Becoming so discouraged 
with their investment they offered them for sale for about 
what the material would have cost in bulk. Two of them 
were sold a low as $5,500 each. As time went by and 
the city grew in population they came into demand 
mostly for the furniture trade. Mr. Dillaye's beautiful 
store had been idle for years, when Mr. Durnford offered 
to rent the upper stories if he would put it in shape for a 
boarding house. Soon after Fralick & Vedder rented 
the stores on the lower floor and filled them with an im- 



90 FROM A FOREST 

mense stock of drv goods, and in a few years acquired a 
good trade, when the thirst for money prompted them to 
the worst case of arson that ever occurred in our 
city. The firm opened a branch store in another place 
and it was reported that they purchased an immense 
stock of goods, and reshipped them from the store here 
to their branch store, leaving the Syracuse store and 
shelves filled with empty boxes. Having the bills to 
show for a large stock of goods they readily procured the 
insurance on every dollars worth. When every prepara- 
tion was completed they fired the store by a trail of cot- 
ton saturated with kerosene. A tall candle was lighted 
that would burn until the small hours of the night before 
reaching the combustible train which was placed in the 
cellar. These plans were so carefully laid and carried 
out that the destruction of the building was most com- 
plete. It would seem to be impossible to find greater 
evidence of the total depravity of man. To think that 
there were ever men so completely filled with infamy 
that they could thus build a fire under eighty innocent 
sleeping men and women, with an indifference as to how 
they should escape from being burned alive is too appal- 
ling to contemplate. As the boarding house became 
filled with smoke the inmates were awakened barely in 
time to escape with their lives. Strong suspicions led to 
a searching inquiry ; the merchants were placed under 
arrest and one link after another was laid bare until the 
evidence was so clear that Vedder attempted suicide, but 
the poison was counteracted by an antidote in time by 
his physician. He then turned States evidence and thus 



TO A CITY. 91 

cleared himself, but his partner in guilt was sentenced to 
Auburn prison for life. Fralick was a man of noble 
physique and of good address, — in religion a Jew ; quite 
wealthy, and felt the disgrace most keenly. While in 
conversation with the sheriff on his way to prison, he 
made the statement that a Jew was never yet found with- 
in the walls of a county house, and seldom in states 
prison. The sheriff replied to this remark that there 
would be one good representative of his class in Auburn 
prison within an hour. The prisoner replied that it was 
not best to "count chickens before they were hatched." 
When within sight of the prison Fralick was seen to place 
something in his mouth which was thought to be tobacco. 
As he stepped into the receiving room of the prison he 
fell to the floor unconscious and died in a few minutes. 

ENCROACHMENT. 

Having referred to those enterprising citizens who 
have been most prominent in commencing a permanent 
business growth on South Salina street, by the erection 
of costly and spacious stores, I must reluctantly refer to 
those who have worked in the opposite direction. A 
merchant prince may have money sufficient to construct a 
seventy-five thousand dollar dwelling house on a business 
street, yet his course will ever be regretted, for he virtually 
places an obstruction in the way of the car of progress 
in that direction for a time a least. I think if Messrs. 
Price & Harwood had erected a fine block of stores on 
the corners of Salina and Jefferson streets, the space 
between Jefferson and Onondaga street would have been 



92 FROM A FOREST 

filled twenty years sooner, for these costly dwellings like 
sentinels, forbade the approach of business in that 
direction and caused the tide of business blocks and 
stores to turn into Clinton and Fayette streets. This is 
to be regretted, as these streets are narrow and not so 
well adapted. The streets of a city like the people who 
walk them are sometimes the victims of injustice. No 
street in our city has suffered greater injury than Salina 
between Onondaga and Temple streets. For more than 
forty years there has been a united effort of property 
owners on the west side of Salina street between these 
two points to add a part of the highway in front of their 
dwellings to their premises, and since the construction of 
"The Florence" flats on the corner of Onondaga and 
Salina streets, it seems that they have completed their 
infamous scheme to narrow Salina street at this point 
twenty-nine feet. Having owned real estate on the op- 
posite side of the street for nearly half a century, I think 
I have a perfect knowledge of the subject and desire to 
place myself on record as ever opposing this outrage to 
the best of my ability. In 1840 some new fences were 
built north of Adams street that encroached upon a six 
rod street. E. W. Leavenworth was President of the 
village and compelled the property owners to set their 
fences on the line of a six rod street. By referring to 
the accompanying map it will be seen that the side-walk 
at that time was much nearer the dwellings on the west 
side of the street than now. Early in the year 1859, 
parties north of Adams street again set their fences out, 
and E. W. Leavenworth placed papers in my hands to 



TO A CITY. 93 

serve on them for encroachment, and the fences were 
withdrawn. Soon after there was an effort made to pave 
the street for the first time, and one of the sharpest con- 
tests followed that ever occurred in the city over the lines 
of a street, which finally resulted in advantage to the 
street stealers; this was due to the great majority in 
numbers on the west side of the street. On the line of 
Billings' Park, every resident was in favor of the scheme, 
as well as north from Adams to Onondaga street, while 
on the east side Roger Billings owned the corner of 
Adams and Salina street as his place of business and re- 
sided on the west side, which placed him actively on the 
side of plunder. This left but six property owners on the 
east side between Harrison and Adams street to oppose 
the strong force on the west, and strange as it may now 
appear, we could not interest parties above or below these 
points to assist in keeping the street open to its full 
width. We knew we were in the right, and like Leonidas 
would oppose the force before us. We employed the 
best counsel, every effort by speeches and petitions was 
made to the Common Council, we stated in the strongest 
terms the infamous scheme of the street stealers to nar- 
row for two blocks a great central avenue, miles in extent, 
from a ninety-nine foot to a seventy foot street. To 
allow this great disfigurement of a street for no other 
purpose than to gratify the avarice and greed of a few 
seemed a crowning absurdity. Every condition seemed 
to favor the schemers. The alderman of the ward was a 
shrewd lawyer with vastly more ability than integrity, 
and was the leading spirit in the council and also a friend 



94 FROM A FOREST 

of Captain Larned. There was one difficulty in the 
way. The Mayor was E. W. Leavenworth who had on 
two previous occasions compelled them to toe the line. 
of a six rod street. He seemed to see the matter in its 
true light, and was known to be determined the street 
should not be narrowed, but unfortunately for us he was 
a candidate for the office of Secretary of State, was 
opposed by Erastus Brooks and the " know nothing " 
party, and he felt he needed every vote. It was said that 
Captain Larned stepped into his office one day and in his 
usual gruff manner said to him, " Leavenworth ! if you 
oppose us in establishing a seventy foot street, I will 
oppose you on election day by making every whiskey 
barrel in the city a free drinking trough." Whether from 
this cause or not, Mr. Leavenworth offered no opposition. 
John Kidder was the City Engineer, he drew a map of 
the street and a proposed line for narrowing it at Onon- 
daga street and running to a point at Temple street ; his 
proposition would establish a seventy foot street between 
those points, while north and south it would be ninety- 
nine feet wide. The Common Council decided to adopt 
this line. With great care I have placed here a copy of 
the original map drawn in 1859, this will show to the 
people of to-day and the future, the precise conditions at 
the time the street was paved. The last move made was 
to petition the council asking that no permanent line 
should be established to embarrass any subsequent coun- 
cil from establishing a six rod street. The subject was 
not farther agitated for twenty-eight years, yet those on 
the east side of the street believed there would come a 



TO A CITY. 



95 



time when justice would be done. In the spring of 1887 
preparations were made for the erection of a block of 
such magnitude on the corner of Onondaga and Salina 
streets, that this seemed the last opportunity to establish 
a uniform sireet six rods wide, as such a structure once 
completed would be a difficult matter to remove. Several 
others with myself wrote articles on the subject. At the 
time of writing my article, I supposed the parties held a 
good title to about twelve rods south from Onondaga 
street. One of the writers referred to seemed familiar with 
the first surveys and maps. By searching the surveys 
recorded at the County Clerk's office it would be an easy 
matter to establish Salina street at these points a six rod 
street. I spent a week in looking up early surveys and 
maps, and found that an act was passed in 1794 to lay 
out the Genesee turnpike six rods wide, and sell two 
hundred a fifty acres of the salt springs reservation to 
pay the expenses. Abram Walton became the purchaser 
in 1804. The south line of this Walton tract crossed a 
little south of the middle of the block between Adams 
and Onondaga streets. In 1807 the surveyor general 
directed Moses Carpenter and two other surveyors to lay- 
out a state r* ad six rods wide, north and south from the 
Walton tract through the state lands to specified points. 
This road is now Salina street. In .824 the Syracuse 
Company purchased the Walton tract and other st 
lands south of Adams street. This Company employed 
John Lathrop to draw a map of their lands, and this map 
shows Salina street a ninety-nine foot street. John Ran- 
dall Jr. drew a map of the salt springs reservation for the 



96 FROM A FOREST 

state in 1822. This map shows. Salina street as a ninety- 
nine foot street. The west line of Salina street can be 
established beyond a doubt from three deeds recorded 
in the County Clerk's office. One of the first deeds from 
the Syracuse Company conveys one and one-half acres 
by this description. "A lot in Block 120, north part of 
the block beginning at the north corner of Green street, 
(now Onondaga street) and running south on the street 
leading to Onondaga Hollow, 3 chains, 43 links, thence 
by a line 67 degrees west, 7 chains 55 links to the bank of 
Onondaga creek, etc." At this point the banks of the 
creek were protected by large trees then standing there, 
establishing the bank as permanent for at least one hun- 
dred years. It must be apparent to every person that to 
commence at this point and measure back, on the line 
indicated, the number of chains and links, would 
establish the west line of Salina street at this point be- 
yond all question. This measurement would leave a 
little more than ninety-nine feet as the width of the street. 
After becoming convinced of the great amount of evi- 
dence at hand to establish South Salina street for miles 
at least a ninety-nine foot street, I called on the Alder- 
man who was chairman of the committee on streets, with 
maps and copies of these original conveyances, and in- 
formed him of my intention to obtain a large number of 
names of our prominent citizens, petitioning the Council 
that inasmuch as there had never been a monument 
placed on the corner of Salina and Onondaga streets, 
and in consequence of the neglect and indifference of all 
previous Councils, it was the opinion of many good 



TO A CITY. 97 

citizens, that encroachments had been made at this point 
that would forever mar the beauty of the principal avenue 
through our city, the petitioners ask that the present 
council instruct the city attorney to procure from the 
county clerk's orifice all original conveyances bearing 
upon the subject, and also direct the city engineer and 
surveyor to survey and place a monument at this point 
as is the custom elsewhere on the corners of streets. The 
reply of this city official must forever be a reproach 
upon the citizens of Syracuse at this period of its exis- 
tence for placing such men in offices to fill places of 
trust. He replied that I had better save my time in pro- 
curing such a petition as there would be no action taken 
upon it; lie thought he understood the sentiment of the 
council upon the subject, and so far as he was concerned, 
he should oppose it as he had some friends living in the 
locality and he should not incur their displeasure for the 
benefit of any street. Believing that in the future as our 
city grows in size and importance the wonder will be 
what could have been the cause of so shocking a blunder 
as to have two widths in so important an avenue, I feel 
that this history should be given in some detail. The 
early history o( the corner of Salina and Onondaga 
streets is this. Sixty-two years previous to the present 
date, Andrew Van Patten bought this corner. South of 
the lot was a dense forest. He built the house that is 
now standing, known as the Larned House, for a tavern. 
He was an active politician. In the year 1X29 there v. 
three candidates in the field for Governor, Mr. Van- 
Patten bet his tavern that Francis Granger would be 



98 FROM A FOREST 

elected Governor. Mr. Granger lost and so did Andrew. 
He manfully paid his bet and deeded his house for 
the consideration of one dollar to the winner of the 
bet. He then built on the opposite corner a brick tavern 
which became venerable, and was known as the Old Line 
House for many years. As the first named house was 
erected when land was of little consequence it is probable 
the first fence was placed without regard to lines and 
remained for so many years that the people became 
accustomed to its location and the encroachment was 
simply tolerated, and the apathy and indifference of the 
inhabitants north and south together with the stupidity 
of the common council in after years is the cause of this 
permanent encroachment. Four or five others with my- 
sely were all that ever offered opposition. Our position 
was that Salina street must forever be the great central 
avenue, and will be to Syracuse what Broadway is to New 
York, so whatever mars or adds to its beauty should inter- 
est every citizen. The great mass of humanity that for 
years and centuries will surge from the north of Onon- 
daga street will see this encroachment which seems at 
one point to be standing in the center of the street, and 
in my opinion it will serve as a monument of disgrace to 
all those who have fought so many years to establish it, 
and also as a reproach for the apathy and indifference 
of the common council whose duty it was to prevent it. 

THE NORTH SIDE OF WATER STREET, BETWEEN 
SALINA AND WARREN STREETS. 

The lot occupied by the Onondaga County Savings 
Bank at an early date came to a point near the bridge. 



TO A CITY. 99 

The building committee of the bank obtained permission 
of the common council to widen the lot at this point. 
In the early history of the village there was a wooden 
building standing on this lot. It was here that the first 
newspaper ever published in Syracuse was printed, mak- 
ing its first appearance in April, 1823. It was not a 
showy sheet being twelve by seventeen inches in size, 
containing four pages of five columns each ; it was called 
the " Gazette," which was a very appropriate name for 
this little paper. The beginnings of newspapers are 
traceable to Germany and Venice. At first they were 
only seen at public places and could only be read by the 
payment of a small coin called a "gazetta," whence the 
name Gazette. In 1820 a post-office was established on 
the north side of the canal but soon after it was removed 
to this building and was located in the office of Mr. 
Durnford, the publisher of the " Gazette." A Mr. Rogers 
kept a dry goods store in this building. His store took 
fire in the month of March, 1834, and this proved to be 
one of the most destructive fires that ever occurred in 
Syracuse. It soon involved the buildings on both sides 
of the canal, and twenty-one were burned, mostly stores. 
The Onondaga Standard office was burned, and it made 
a clean sweep of all the buildings on Water street be- 
tween Salina and Warren streets. At the time the fire 
occurred, most of the square was a sheet of ice, under 
which the water was a foot deep in places. The goods 
were carried out of the burning buildings and placed on 
the ice at a safe distance from the fire. In one place 
was a tall pile of barrels filled with crackers; the intense 



IOO FROM A FOREST 

heat thawing the ice on the side nearest the fire caused 
them to fall over, and soon barrels of crackers were 
floating over Hanover Square to the great amusement of 
the boys, who were up to their knees in water securing 
the crackers. This is alluded to as showing the condi- 
tion of Hanover square at that time. Since then it has 
been filled up several feet, but in the early days of Syra- 
cuse the square was a sea of mud. 

The buildings destroyed by the fire were soon after 
replaced with substantial brick buildings. Judging from 
their appearance, the architects of those days had little 
conception of beauty or convenience. There was not an 
ornament of any kind to be seen, the roofs were without 
cornices and rested upon the brick wall, the windows 
were small and ill shaped. The art of stair building 
seemed to be in the hands of the blacksmith, and the 
two and three stories were sometimes reached by iron 
stairs placed on the outside of the building. These were 
of the crudest workmanship, consisting of a single plank 
for a tread, placed on a bar of bent iron with an inch 
bar for a hand rail, and it required nerve and courage to 
descend the steep grade. The interiors were equally 
crude and inconvenient. The show windows were pro- 
jections on the outside of the store, usually sufficient in 
depth for two panes of ten by sixteen glass, with a half 
round corner and a pane of glass on a half circle. I 
have now a few of those half circle glass that I took from 
one of these show windows while making repairs forty- 
five years ago. At that time the windows were of small 
glass, and, for safety, board shutters were required to all 



TO A CITY. IOI 

doors and windows, which gave the business part of the 
town early in the morning and Sundays a most deserted 
and cheerless appearance. 

In 1839 D. & M. Dana opened a dry-goods store on 
the north west corner of Warren and Water streets, 
which was one of the principal establishments of that 
class in the village. Mr. Dana was one of our self-made 
men. He came here in the early days of Syracuse, and 
worked at packing salt for a few shillings per day, and 
by great economy and industry was enabled to start in 
trade on a small scale. The strongest trait of character 
in Daniel Dana was his love of truth, and for this reason, 
when needed, he could always obtain credit. In those 
days there was but little money in circulation and barter 
was a necessity. So common was this practice that the 
rules and principles of barter were laid down in the 
school books of that day. Mr. Dana's store was a resort 
for many of the farmers of our county fifty years ago, 
where they took their grain and exchanged it for "store 
pay." When Mr. Dana sold the grain there was fre- 
quently a rise of a few cents per bushel, and this led him 
to make the buying and selling of grain a specialty, and he 
became one of the largest grain buyers in the State. At 
that date our granaries were not filled as now from the 
prolific fields of the west. Then the rich hills and valleys 
of our county returned the farmer a bountiful harvest of 
the " staff of life." When the farmers commenced mar- 
keting their wheat, Mr. Dana was always on the watch 
and it was amusing to see him following the loads of 
wheat through the streets. So active was he that it was 



102 FROM A FOREST 

said that sometimes the full capacity of the two banks 
were required to supply him with funds. The scales that 
decided the loss and gain with Mr. Dana were for many 
years evenly balanced, and one year he would be rich 
and the next poor, but this fact was known only to a few. 
The constant anxiety and excitement finally proved too 
much for his mind, and his familiar form was no longer 
seen on the market. 

EAST GENESEE STREET. 

East Genesee street from Warren street to the Park 
was bordered by four triangular blocks, with the angles 
reversed on each side of the street. This was thought 
by the original surveyor to be a necessity so as to lay 
out the blocks adjoining in a square form. In the early 
.days when but few buildings occupied these three sided 
blocks they made a very pretty appearance when they 
were clothed in beautiful green turf with many fine spec- 
imens of the forest trees left standing here and there. 
One triangle was formed by Genesee, Warren and Wash- 
ington streets, and on the east point of this triangle was 
a copious well of water that furnished the few inhabitants 
with good water long before Captain Teall's supply was 
ever thought of. This well was the scene at one time of 
great excitement when a little girl struggling at the wind- 
lass to empty the heavy bucket lost her balance and fell 
into the well. She happened to be seen when falling 
and was rescued alive. 

On the Warren street side of this triangle was erected 
in 1826 the first Episcopal church in Syracuse, where the 



TO A CITY. I03 

society held their services until 1844, when they built St. 
Paul's church on the corner of Warren and Fayette 
streets, which was ultimately torn down and the lot sold 
to the United States for a Government building. The 
old church originally built was sold to the Catholic 
society in 1844 and moved to the corner of Montgomery 
and Madison streets, and is one of the oldest churches in 
the place, services having been held in it for more than 
fifty years. The lot made vacant by this removal was 
purchased by General Granger who erected the Granger 
Block. The block on the opposite side of Genesee street 
was the site of an old yellow building which occupied 
the whole of the space between Water and Genesee 
streets facing Hanover square, and was the first building 
on that block. It was divided into several small shops 
and stores which were occupied by small dealers with 
little capital. The second floor was reached by outside 
stairs from the Water street side. Dr. Hiram Hoyt 
occupied, for several years, a portion of this floor for his 
office and hospital, which was on a small scale of course, 
in those early days, yet it was sometimes of great service 
in sudden emergencies, and in case of accidents such as 
happened one fourth of July. Two men were loading a 
cannon on Prospect Hill, and a fellow by the name of 
Jack Hall had been instructed to hold his thumb over 
the vent of the cannon and be sure not to remove it 
while the men were engaged in loading it with powder. 
Too much whiskey made Jack so patriotic that he re- 
moved his thumb, when a premature discharge took place 
which deprived two men of their arms. They were car- 



104 FROM A FOREST 

ried to Dr. Hoyt's rooms where amputation was per- 
formed, and where they remained until their recovery. 
The next building east was the old Union House, erected 
in 1827. The last occupant of this house was a Mr. 
Partridge and he made some money while here but soon 
lost it. He lived alone for many years, doing all his 
housework even to baking his bread; that it was of good 
quality was shown by the fact of his living to be over 
eighty years old. Next east of this old Union House, 
the first brick dwelling in Syracuse, was built by John 
Rogers in 1825, and at date of writing it is still standing. 
If all that has transpired within the walls of this old 
building could be told it would make an interesting 
volume, recording the joys and sorrows incident to hu- 
man life. The first occupant of this house felt a just 
pride in living in the only substantial brick dwelling 
house then in the place. On the 15th of March, 1834, 
after a well-spent day over his counter, he returned to 
his quiet and happy home with anticipations and pros- 
pects of future prosperity, but the next morning's sun 
shone upon the ruins of his store, and more than twenty 
adjoining buildings were smouldering heaps of ashes, 
thus showing the uncertainty of human hopes and desires. 
As the years rolled by the walls of this old house were 
heated again and again by the conflagrations of the sur- 
rounding buildings, and at one time there seemed to be 
a determined effort of an incendiary to burn it, and for 
weeks a special policeman was secreted to capture the 
would-be incendiary. It seems sometimes as if there 
is a fate that surrounds buildings like this and the Syra- 




mm » »^J?«r ' 

THe"fIKST BRICK BOUSE IN SYRACUSE. 



TO A CITY. 105 

cuse House, by which they seem to be protected from 
the destructive influences which are so common to other 
structures. The north side of Genesee street, between 
Warren and Montgomery streets, where the Convention 
Block now stands, was formerly the site of the Congre- 
gational church, an unpretentious wooden building that 
had been in use many years. The bell in this church- 
spire was the one that gave the signal at the arrest of the 
slave Jerry, under the fugitive slave law. We have no 
record of any place in the United States where in the 
days of slavery the poor slave had more ardent friends 
than in Syracuse, — not even Boston, the home of Gar- 
rison. The great activity of the anti-slavery societies at 
the North induced the slave-holding States to have the 
fugitive slave law passed, and under this law all citizens 
of the United States were required, when called upon, to 
render the officers personal assistance in the performance 
of their duties in arresting fugitive slaves, the principle 
being, that " the constitution and laws of the United 
States secure the right to reclaim fugitive slaves against 
State legislation." This law was particularly odious to 
the anti-slavery men at the North, as they claimed it 
turned them into slave-catchers and compelled them to 
perform the office of blood-hounds in running down 
human beings whose only offence was the love of liberty. 
There were scores of men in Syracuse who hated the 
institution of slavery with as much intensity as Garrison, 
and accordingly they met in Market Hall and passed the 
strongest resolutions they could find language to express, 
declaring they would never obey the fugitive slave law, 



106 FROM A FOREST 

and also that there never should be a slave returned from 
Syracuse under this law, and there never was. The 
rescue of Jerry has been so many times described we 
will pass it by without further notice. Yet there is one 
circumstance preceding it that I do not remember hav- 
ing heard mentioned. A few days after one of the 
most enthusiastic anti-slavery meetings ever held in 
Market Hall, Daniel Webster very unexpectedly made 
his appearance in Syracuse and was escorted to a little 
balcony on the east side of the Courier building (this 
balcony is there to-day as it was then), and there were 
soon fifty or a hundred men gathered around to see the 
great statesman, who there made a short speech. I think 
I can now repeat the most of it verbatim. He com- 
menced by saying : " Gentlemen of the village of Syra- 
cuse, I have long felt an interest in your place, as it is 
intimately connected with the salines of the State," and 
after a very short introduction he turned upon the politi- 
cal topics of the times which, to a large extent, involved 
the question of slavery, and he made this assertion : 
" Gentlemen, I am a lawyer, and I value my reputation 
as much for this as for anything," then, raising his voice 
and with much emphasis added, "let me tell you, as often 
as you meet in convention in that hall," pointing to 
Market Hall, " and pass the resolutions that you do, it is 
treason ! it is treason ! ! " If he had been sent here to 
instruct us as a high legal authority, the sequel clearly 
demonstrated how little his instructions were regarded. 

The changes that have taken place in Syracuse illus- 
trate the changed ideas of the American people, and we 



TO A CITY. 107 

now look back with wonder and astonishment to think 
that at so recent a period as when Syracuse was incor- 
porated as a village, the laws of New York recognized 
the ownership of one man by another. The time for the 
gradual emancipation of slavery in this State expired 
in 1827. 

The block bounded by Genesee, Montgomery and 
Fayette streets was first occupied by Samuel Phelps who 
built a blacksmith-shop on Genesee street, it being at 
that time surrounded by forest trees. There was an im- 
mense oak tree in front of his shop, which was left stand- 
ing near the side-walk for years after. At this early time, 
when the stage-coaches made it lively on this great thor- 
oughfare, blacksmith-shops were a necessity, to shoe 
horses and make repairs. These shops and taverns were 
located at short distances along the whole line of the 
Genesee turnpike. The taverns were furnished with 
whiskey by a man called "Old Hersey"of Cazenovia. 
He was one of Mr. Phelps's best customers and his shop 
was kept constantly supplied with a barrel of whiskey. 
This article, in those days, was cheap, costing but 25 cts. 
per gallon; it was pure and, when drank moderately, was 
a good tonic. Mr. Phelps was in the habit of giving his 
customers a drink, and the Indians made him frequent 
visits and brought him fine salmon, venison, live bears 
and coons. These he had so well trained that he would 
occasionally have a fine performance under the old oak 
tree, to the great enjoyment of his half-civilized neigh- 
bors. On one occasion there was a powerful Indian chief 
here on a visit from Oneida Castle, and, with another 



108 FROM A FOREST 

Indian, called on Mr. Phelps for a drink of whiskey. 
Mr. Phelps was busy at the time and told the big Indian 
to help himself, whereupon he seized the nearly-full bar- 
rel and, holding it up to his mouth, drank from the bung. 
About the year 1835 Hoyt & Billings built a carriage 
manufactory on the southwest corner of Genesee and Mul- 
berry streets, and later, in 1839, Mr. Billings built a large 
shop for his business on the north of what is now Billings 
Park. This plot of land in front of his shop he owned 
and cultivated, but years after he dedicated it to the city 
for a park with the understanding that it was to be known 
as Billings Park, and that the city should place a fountain 
in the centre. Just before the village became a city the 
old wagon-shop of Hoyt & Co. was removed and a fine 
block erected by Harvey Sheldon, which was a great im- 
provement upon the old shop with its surroundings of 
used-up and disjointed vehicles. The upper part of this 
block was finished for a public hall, and being so centrally 
located patronage was expected, but this was not realized, 
and accordingly it was rented to Mr. Farnham, a popular 
school-teacher. While engaged in changing the hall to a 
school-room Mr. Farnham received a call from an old 
gentleman who lived in a house previously used for a 
hotel on the opposite corner where now stands the spaci- 
ous residence of Mr. Crouse. The old gentleman was 
very talkative and seemingly took a great interest in 
schools, and was very desirous that Mr. Farnham should 
succeed. He said, in his opinion, there was no other 
business that required managing with more discretion 
than a select school. He related during the conversa- 



TO A CITY. IO9 

tion that a popular and successful teacher prevailed upon 
Mr. Samuel Phelps to build a brick building on part of 
his lot, agreeing to rent it for a term of years for a select 
school, and the building was soon completed and the 
school commenced with most flattering prospects. The 
Unitarian society had their place of worship in a little 
chapel near the school, and the teacher was indiscreet 
enough to admit some of the children of the Unitarians 
to the school, when the Trinitarians withdrew their sup- 
port, and this sectarian influence was the cause of break- 
ing up the school. According to this old gentleman's 
story, sectarianism had a greater influence in those days 
than now. 

The two triangular blocks, one on each side of Genesee 
street, next west of Fayette Park, as late as 1847 con- 
tained only small and unattractive buildings, a descrip- 
tion of which would be uninteresting to the reader. On 
the north side of Genesee street, opposite the present 
opera house, was standing a story and a half frame build- 
ing painted yellow, occupied by Brower & Son as a brass 
foundry. Several years previous Pope & Frazer used it 
as a harness-shop. Next west was a rickety old building 
with rough outside stairs leading to Whiston & Peck's 
paint-shop. John Ames occupied a small store, but 
nearly a quarter of the block was vacant lots. A little 
east of the centre of the block was the location of a small 
chapel built in 1839 at a cost of six hundred dollars 
and if it had ever been adorned with a coat of paint 
the evidence only existed in tradition; yet it was the 
birth-place of three of our wealthy church societies 



IIO FROM A FOREST 

of to-day. The Unitarians, Central Baptist and Re- 
formed churches held services here. The Unitarian 
society occupied the little building for several years, and 
Rev. Mr. Storer was pastor. The first pastor of the 
Central Baptist church, Rev. A. Pinney, preached in this 
little chapel previous to the society erecting their brick 
church on East Genesee street where the Second Baptist 
society held their services for several years, when they 
sold their church to the French Catholics and built a 
much more expensive and elegant edifice on the corner 
of Montgomery and Jefferson streets. The little chapel 
above referred to, was ultimately occupied by John Ford 
for a tin-shop. At that time there was in his employ two 
small boys engaged in gathering rags, the mother of these 
boys being determined to early instil in them habits of 
industry, believing that any useful occupation was honor- 
able. She lived to see her sons honorable and wealthy 
citizens, one of whom now lives in a spacious mansion 
surrounded with beautiful adornments, and is considered 
one of our wealthiest and most substantial citizens, thus 
proving that "just as the twig is bent, the tree is in- 
clined." If mothers would reflect and understand more 
fully the great responsibilities resting upon them in the 
early training of their children, the world would be bet- 
ter. They have, to a great extent, the power of determin- 
ing whether their children shall be ornaments in society 
and filling places of importance among men, or whether 
by the dereliction of parental care they become candi- 
dates for the State's prison. 

The block on East Genesee street now occupid by the 



TO A CITY. Ill 

Grand Opera House, at as late a date as 1847, was partly- 
filled by a few small buildings and those of too little impor- 
tance to interest the reader. Among these were two 
common brick dwellings, one occupied by Dr. M. M. 
White. Joseph Barton purchased these and removed 
them to give place to the Barton Opera House. That 
part of the block on the point of the triangle was without 
a building of any description. On the corner of Genesee 
and Montgomery streets was a long two story wooden 
building painted white, the lower floor occupied by the 
carriage and harness-shop of Ralph Phelps who used the 
upper floor for his dwelling. This corner was purchased 
by Austin Myers who built an unattractive but substan- 
tial building and named it the iMyers Block, the upper 
part of which contained a fair-sized hall that received its 
full share of patronage. It was in this hall that the Syra- 
cuse branch of the organization known as the " Loyal 
League " held their meetings during the rebellion. It 
seems hardly credible now that such an organization 
should ever have been thought necessary in Syracuse, yet 
the lines were distinctly drawn between two classes of our 
citizens; one believed in putting down the rebellion if it 
took the last man and the last dollar, while the other 
class, which was greatly in the minority, sympathized 
with the seceded States and declared the war a failure 
and unjust in every respect, and opposed, so far as was 
in their power, our citizens in lending aid to the Govern- 
ment. So intense were the feelings of hatred between 
these two classes that one was denounced as Northern 
copperheads while they, in turn, branded their opponents 



112 FROM A FOREST 

as Lincoln's hirelings. So bitter was the feeling that the 
loyal citizens felt insecure, believing that the copperheads 
might be suddenly reinforced by their Southern friends 
and thus create a battlefield in our midst, for it was most 
keenly felt that the devastations of the war were all con- 
fined to Southern soil, and they realized that the North 
could carry on the war indefinitely if it could be confined 
to the Southern States. This condition led to the organ- 
ization of a branch of the " Loyal League " which met 
once a week in Myers Hall. The meetings were con- 
ducted so secretly that no account at the time, nor since, 
as I remember, was ever given. The organization was 
composed, to a great extent, of the substantial citizens, — 
most generally men of middle age and those who could 
not, or were not expected to go to the front. The society 
was the most perfect that could be found, and in joining 
they took a strong and solemn oath not to divulge the 
secrets of the Order. Numerous secret signs were given 
by which they might be known as belonging to the League, 
and also for their personal safety; for instance, if any 
member should fall into the hands of his enemies, by 
slapping the hands together three times and repeating 
certain words, if it was heard by any member of the 
Order, he was obliged to at once make common cause 
and fight for the member of the League. But the most 
important part of this organization was the drill, perfect- 
ing a system by which a thousand or fifteen hundred men, 
at a signal upon a church bell, could be under arms in an 
hour's time, should a case of emergency require. 

Captain Myers, who built the Myers Block, was another 



TO A CITY. 113 

of the self-made men of Syracuse ; his father was a New 
York merchant who met with reverses of fortune and 
died when Austin was but one year old. His mother 
cared for him until he was fifteen years old, when he left 
home for Albany where he learned the harness-maker's 
trade, and at the expiration of his apprenticeship of three 
years he married and took passage on a canal-boat, arriv- 
ing in the little village of Syracuse in 1833. When he 
landed here he had only two pieces of silver, one repre- 
senting 12^ cents, and the other one-half that amount. 
If Syracuse is noted for one thing more than another, it 
is that men who are willing and know how to work can 
always find employment. Within a few hours after his 
arrival, Mr. Myers found work in the harness-shop of 
Silas Ames, and during the year earned three hundred 
dollars; he then left Syracuse and commenced business 
in Jordan, where he remained and acquired several pieces 
of real estate which he sold during the campaign of 1840. 
Seldom in the history of Presidential campaigns did the 
excitement run so high as during the song-singing, hard- 
cider and log-cabin campaign of Gen. Harrison. Mr. 
Myers was a Whig and an ardent politician, and a neigh- 
bor who was on the opposite side, and an equally zealous 
Democrat, offered Mr. Myers about twice the value of 
his real estate with an agreement to pay for the same 
when Harrison was made President, which happened 
within a year. Mr. Myers then returned to Syracuse and 
located his house on the grounds now occupied by Sena- 
tor Hiscock on West Onondaga street. He established 
a line of packet-boats which he ran with success, acquir- 

8 



114 FROM A FOREST 

ing the title of Captain; but this enterprise was affected 
by competition with the railroads. Through his rare 
business qualities and energy he never met with reverses. 
He died several years ago, leaving an estate estimated at 
over half a million dollars. 

SOUTH SIDE OF WASHINGTON STREET, BETWEEN 
WARREN AND MONTGOMERY STREETS. 

At the junction of Montgomery, Washington and Gene- 
see streets stood a one and a half story building, erected 
in 1833, with the usual outside stairs leading from the 
side-walk to the second story. Dr. Glenn occupied it 
for his dwelling and dentist's office. Mr. L. H. Redfield 
bought this corner and lived in a brick house on the 
south part of the lot. He moved the old wooden struc- 
ture away and erected a one story brick building twelve 
by twenty feet in size, it being so small that it looked as 
if a strong man might carry it away. It was occupied 
by a German for his house and shop, and was of suffi- 
cient size to contain all his wealth which then comprised 
a few upholster's tools. That same German to-day is 
the owner of a hundred thousand dollars' worth of real 
estate ; thus we see how fickle are the wheels of fortune. 
In 1847 the south side of Washington street, between 
Warren and Montgomery streets, presented a different 
appearance than it does to-day, as there were only a few 
two story dwellings. Mr. Colwell built a bowling alley, 
giving it the name of Gothic Hall, a little west of the 
centre of the block. He died soon after, when the Stan- 
dard took possession of it, and that paper was printed 



TO A CITY. 115 

there for many years. In the village days of Syracuse 
Timothy Teall's residence was about midway between 
the two streets. A Mrs. Morgan rented a small wooden 
building for a milliner's shop, standing near where the 
Journal building is now located. Mrs. Morgan's son 
Alonzo was then a school-boy, and afterwards he became 
a prominent homeopathic physician, and after a few years 
removed to New York for a wider field of practice. In 
the early days, when the village was yet small, Col. Phil- 
lips built a two story wooden building on the corner of 
Warren and Washington streets, now called the Vander- 
bilt corner, and lived there in the days when stage-coaches 
were the only means of travel for the public. ' In later 
years the building was rented to a German named Sigel, 
who fitted it up in a better style than usual for those 
days. His bar was made very attractive by placing mir- 
rors back of the numerous decanters of liquors, and to 
add to the attractions was a collection of birds, the cages 
being hung in such a manner that every movement of the 
inmates was reflected in the mirrors. Chief among these 
attractions was a parrot whose powers of speech were 
most remarkable. His owners claimed for him a great 
age, and that for fifty years he was in one of the beer 
gardens of Germany. This may have been true, as it is 
sometimes claimed that the parrot attains the age of one 
hundred years. This parrot seemed to be well informed 
in bar-room etiquette, and he would call in the most de- 
liberate manner for the different kinds of drinks; he was 
cunning and mischievous, but, unfortunately, a most pro- 
fane bird, and when giving utterance to his profanity the 



Il6 FROM A FOREST 

harshness of his voice was most remarkable. Mr. Sigel 
made his place very attractive to his German friends, as 
before coming to this country he had kept a beer garden 
and knew how to please his patrons. One of the greatest 
riots that ever occurred in the village of Syracuse took 
place at his house, where there had been great prepara- 
tions for a New Year's ball. At the same time there had 
been secret preparations among a class of Salt Point 
roughs who had some old grudges to settle with a few 
Germans who were to attend the ball. Accordingly, 
about ten o'clock, 

** When music arose with its voluptuous swell 
Soft eyes looked love to eyes that spake again, 
And all went merry as a marriage bell," 

all at once fifteen or twenty roughs entered the house, 
proceeded to the bar and drank it dry, demanding the 
barkeeper to fill up, which he refused to do and ordered 
them again and again to leave the house, when they pro- 
ceeded to break the costly mirrors and fixtures in a 
thousand pieces. By this time the friends of Sigel had 
left the ball-room and come to his aid, and a pitched 
battle was the result. The ringleader was commanded 
to leave with his party, and he replied by throwing a de- 
canter at the head of the proprietor, which was answered 
by a pistol-shot, and then the fight was terrific. Pistols 
were freely used on both sides, everything breakable was 
smashed, one man was dangerously wounded, several had 
received shots and the floor was slippery with the blood 
of the enraged parties. It was not safe for the feeble 
force of police to attempt to enter or make arrests. It 



TO A CITY. 117 

seemed most fortunate that Captain Teall's cadets were 
on drill that evening, and they were called out very un- 
expectedly and surrounded the house and the riot was 
soon quelled and the desperate characters marched up to 
the old jail. It was reported around town that one man 
had been shot dead and several others seriously wounded. 
There was great indignation felt against the Germans, 
but on understanding the case it was clear that but one 
side was in the wrong, and that side the attacking party 
of Salt Pointers. Mr. Sigel, however, soon left, and he 
was succeeded by Eliphalet Welch, who fitted up the 
place as Welch's Coffee House, and it was the most pop- 
ular restaurant in town for many years, he in turn being 
succeeded by Cook & Sons. In 1832 Mr. King, of Tully, 
bought the northeast corner of Warren and Fayette 
streets and built a two story wooden house which was 
occupied as a dwelling a few years and then sold to 
Mr. Partridge who kept it as a hotel until 1839, when he 
sold out his interest for one hundred acres of Lewis 
county land. Josiah Brintall &: Brother were the pur- 
chasers. The Brintalls owned the property for many 
years and made many additions and alterations to the 
house. Josiah Brintall is one of our most respected citi- 
zens, was Loan Commissioner for a term of years, and 
also Assessor for several years. He was born in Mont- 
gomery county in 1806. On the next lot north of the 
Fayette street corner in 1834 stood a small one story 
house, where quite an amusing episode took place. On 
the evening of the great fire in 1834, when the streets 
were lined with goods from the burning buildings, a great 



Il8 FROM A FOREST 

opportunity was offered to appropriate the goods of those 
who suffered by the fire, and much stealing was done, 
keeping the officers busy for several days afterwards look- 
ing for stolen goods. A call was made at the little yel- 
low house on Warren street, and as soon as the officers 
entered the house a smoky odor peculiar to smoked hams 
was detected. They were sure there was no mistake, yet 
nothing was visible and the search of every part of the 
little shanty revealed nothing of the kind. There was 
but one woman in the house and she apparently very 
sick in bed. The officers were so impudent as to look 
under the bed, yet nothing was there, and they then 
caught hold of the straw-tick and with a knife made an 
opening which revealed a half dozen fine hams. The 
woman was instantly restored to health, and seizing a 
chair, ordered the intruders out of doors. They promptly 
complied, taking the woman with them. 

This portion of Warren street midway between Fayette 
and Washington streets was purchased by Jason C. Wood- 
ruff in the days when he was running a line of stages, and 
he built here a sizable brick house where he lived for 
several years. On the back part of his large lot were the 
barns and sheds for his horses and stages. He sold this 
property to Giles Cleveland who kept a livery stable here. 
This part of Warren street at that time had a very untidy 
appearance, as the lot was filled with old worn-out vehicles 
of every description, from an old stage-coach to a wheel- 
barrow. The contrast between what it was then and the 
now spacious Vanderbilt can hardly be imagined. 

The Granger Block was built in 1844 and was burned 



TO A CITY. 119 

on a very cold night in the winter of '49. One of our 
fire engines would have extinguished the flames in a few 
minutes, but the facilities for extinguishing fires in those 
days were very different from what they are now. The 
city had but three old style machines, worked by hand 
and managed by volunteer companies. These companies 
would organize and disband to suit their own pleasure. 
There was generally some feud existing between the dif- 
ferent companies, which frequently at fires would end in 
a general fight. This happened to be the case on that 
evening. As I remember, some slight accident happened 
to one of the engines, and while the foreman was making 
repairs there were some taunting remarks from some one 
belonging to another company, which were quickly re- 
sented and a general row was the result, and two engines 
were abandoned by their companies. This left but one 
little feeble stream directed on the fire. In those days 
the officers of the city knew their duty and were always 
on hand. I happened to be standing by the side of 
Alderman Wm. H. Alexander, an old gray-headed man, 
who took in the situation at a glance, and, springing into 
the crowd, took one of the ringleaders by the collar with 
one hand and the other just below the small of the back, 
he propelled him in double-quick time to the machine, 
and at the same time with a voice heard above all others, 
said : " I am an Alderman of this city, and if you don't 
work that machine I will lock you up." Then in an 
instant he had another in his iron grip; his hat was 
knocked off and his gray hairs were a prey to the fierce 
cutting winds, but his lion-like courage and energy 



120 FROM A FOREST 

seemed to awe the rebellious firemen, and with shame 
they all returned to their places and worked with re- 
doubled exertions. But the block was doomed, and 
within two hours from the time the alarm was given from 
the bells in the church spires, two men carried a dry 
goods box to the centre of the street, and Gen. Granger 
climbing upon it gained the attention of the great crowd 
of people by shouting, " Hello ! Hello? the walls of the 
burning building will fall in a few minutes. They are 
changing very fast and will reach farther into the street 
than you think for, so if you regard your safety clear the 
street to a safe distance." In a few minutes there was 
not a piece of wall ten feet high to be seen. This block 
was rebuilt and again burned in 1864, the present block 
being erected in 1866. It we follow the history of the 
lot where the Larned Block now stands, back to that 
period when wooden buildings occupied the central por- 
tion of the town, we should find the north-east corner of 
the lot on Genesee and Warren streets occupied by Van 
Husen's blacksmiths shop, which was an unusually old 
structure on such a corner, and stood out in broad con- 
trast to the southeast corner of the same lot on Washington 
and Warren streets. Mr. Durnford owned this corner, 
on which was a small story and a half house painted 
white, with green blinds, and surrounded by a picket 
fence also painted white. There was a plank walk from 
Washington street leading to the front door and also one 
from Warren street leading to the side door ; along these 
walks were placed beds of flowers and shrubbery so 
neatly arranged that it gave the corner a very tasteful 



TO A CITY. 12 1 

appearance. These two lots were purchased by Captain 
Larned and a very plain but substantial brick building 
was erected for a public house, part of the lower story 
being used for stores. While Capt. Larned occupied the 
house it was called the " Alhambra," when Mr. Durn- 
ford was proprietor it was called the Tremont House, 
and was last called the Sherman House. It was burned 
soon after the death of Capt. Larned, and the present 
Larned Block was built by his heirs, so the city is in- 
debted to Capt. Larned for this fine building. He was 
wealthy and spent his money in building up the city, 
and forty years ago there were few men in Syracuse bet- 
ter known than Capt. Larned. His early business life 
brought him in contact with the rougher elements of 
society. As soon as the Erie canal was completed, the 
banks were lined every few miles with littie shanties, 
filled with supplies for boatmen. Captain Larned con- 
ceived the idea of building a light, easy running craft 
and loading it with a fine assortment of all the supplies 
needed by boatmen and running the whole length of the 
canal, being able to furnish every boat with whatever was 
needed, without stopping their crafts. He was so suc- 
cessful in this business that he retired with a fine fortune 
and the title of Captain. He was a bachelor until well 
advanced in life, when he married a daughter of Col. 
Johnson and thus found himself with a young family in 
his old age. His strong traits of character were best 
drawn out during the exciting times of the rebellion, his 
sympathies being so strong for the union cause that he 
would have been tempted to help fight the battles if his 



122 FROM A FOREST 

age had not debarred him from enlisting : but he did the 
next best thing by fighting the copperheads of the north 
whom he hated with all the intensity of his nature. I 
was his near neighbor during the time, and one Sunday 
morning as soon as it was light, every church bell in the 
city was rung furiously and kept the city in an uproar 
for half an hour. About all the people were soon in the 
street, but few were in full dress. Uncle Sam Larned 
with the rest, when, on inquiring the cause of the great 
tumult, he was told that Richmond was taken by the 
Union army. The old man was in the greatest ecstasy 
of delight at the news, and shouting to the people in the 
streets, " if the news is true I will make a bonfire to-night 
of that house " pointing to his home, but it was a false 
alarm and the bonfire was not lighted. 

EARLY HISTORY OF THE SITE OF THE CITY HALL. 

Soon after the completion of the Erie canal through 
Syracuse it was thought necessary to have a basin where 
boats could run in and be out of the way of navigation, 
and it was decided to locate the basin where the City 
Hall and square is now. An excavation from the canal 
south to the line of Washington street was completed and 
filled with water. As there was no current the water 
soon became offensive and one of the most intolerable 
nuisances that ever cursed a village existed here. Its 
proportions seemed so formidable that for a long time 
there was no attempt to abate it, as it was thought to be 
a necessary evil. In those days there was a large num- 
ber of scow-boats used to boat wood for the salt blocks. 
They were not in use more than half of the time, and 



TO A CITY. 123 

this basin or frog pond, as it was called, was filled with 
these unsightly crafts. Many of them were neglected 
and sunk to the bottom, and when excavations are now 
made near the City Hall the workmen come in contact 
with these sunken crafts, and, unable to account for their 
existence there, think they have found the long-lost 
Noah's ark; but the only resemblance is, one was built 
of gopher wood and the other /<?-go-for wood. The vil- 
lage charter was altered in 1842 to enable the trustees to 
borrow money on the credit of the village for public im- 
provement. In those days, as in our own, there were 
men elected to hold office who were not practical. This 
class advocated the advantages of erecting a public build- 
ing for a market similar to the Fulton market, New York. 
The site of the present City Hall was selected (it having 
been filled up and graded), the building completed, and 
was our City Hall till June, '89, with the addition of twenty 
feet for an entrance and a belfry for the fire-alarm. The 
plan was to appropriate the lower floor for stalls for the 
sale of meats, and the upper floor for a public hall which 
was called Market Hall. After the building and stalls 
were completed there was much hesitation among the 
men whose meat-markets were situated in different parts 
of the village, to leave their established places of business 
and accept of the new quarters in a general market in the 
centre of the town. A paper was drawn up and the 
principal market men signed an agreement to try the 
experiment. Mr. Davis and Mr. Meldram headed the 
list, and the stalls of the new market were filled with the 
greatest display of meats that had ever been seen in town, 



124 FROM A FOREST 

and the public square in front was filled with the wagons 
of farmers, loaded with their produce. This copy of 
Fulton market had a very systematical appearance in our 
lively village and demonstrated the enterprise and pro- 
gressive spirit of the citizens, but the experiment was 
destined to be very short lived. To bring men together 
who had long been rivals in the same business, all on the 
same floor, was placing too high an estimate on human 
character. Before long it was found that their old cus- 
tomers would not follow them to their new quarters, and 
a general dissatisfaction resulted soon in leaving the new 
market empty. This was no loss to the village, however. 
Market Hall was much needed and well patronized, as it 
was suitable in size and altogether the best hall in the 
place, and. the square was convenient for public out-of- 
door gatherings when distinguished visitors were in 
town, such as General Scott, in 1852, who was given a 
fine reception by our military companies. After being 
drawn up in review in front of the City Hall, and during 
an appropriate little speech, he complimented them on 
their good discipline, emphasizing the great importance 
of discipline in military movements; that he had seen the 
efficacy of this quality when his little army that was only 
a "priming" compared to that of Mexico, yet by disci- 
pline and courage they conquered the enemy. In the 
same year an elaborate stand was erected on this square 
for the reception of Louis Kossuth. The committee that 
constructed the stand had draped in front of the speaker 
the stars and stripes in a graceful manner, and placed on 
the centre a very fine specimen of the American eagle. 



TO A CITY. 125 

During his speech, in referring to the admiration he had 
for our country, he stepped forward and, grasping the 
eagle and holding it over his head, he said : " While I am 
under the shadow of these wide extended wings, your 
country's emblem of liberty, I have nothing to fear from 
the despotism of the empires of the world." This part of 
his speech was ridiculed, by some of our daily papers, as 
a silly performance for effect. 

CORNER OF LOCK AND WATER STREETS. 

The corners of Lock street where the bridge crosses 
the canal, in the early days of Syracuse was the location 
of several industries which gave some life to business in 
that locality. It was then near the first lock, which was 
removed in 1840 farther east to where it is now. Joel 
Cody had the contract for its removal and the construc- 
tion of the new lock. On the southwest corner of Lock 
street bridge was the location of the first Pottery in the 
village, and at one time a large quantity of pottery of a 
rough quality was manufactured here and shipped to 
different points on the line of the canal. On the south- 
east side of the bridge was erected a two story building 
designed for manufacturing furniture, and soon after its 
construction it was destroyed by fire. Next east of this 
point on the line of Water street was situated VanBuren's 
tannery, where that trade was continued for many years. 
On the northwest corner of the bridge was a potash man- 
ufactury. This industry is usually among the first to be 
established in new places, as the forests are consumed 
the ashes are gathered for the purpose of concentration 
in potash, so essential in the manufacture of soap. Many 



126 FROM A FOREST 

times the poor people struggling with poverty in a new 
country endeavoring to clear up their lands, rely to quite 
an extent upon the ashes collected from the wood they 
consume. Fifty or sixty years ago these manufactories 
were quite common, several teams were employed by 
them which visited every house once a month to collect 
the wood ashes, usually carrying with them a few grocer- 
ies, such as tea, coffee and sugar, to exchange for the 
ashes, which were worth about one shilling per bushel. 
The present generation know but little of the hardships 
and privations endured by the pioneers in a new coun- 
try, and how meagre were their resources for procuring 
the common necessities of life. The northeast corner of 
Lock street was the site of a large building erected by 
Mr. John R. Robertson about the year 1855, a part of 
it remained for a considerable time unfinished, as the 
city authorities claimed that it encroached upon the 
street, a party of men were sent to tear it down, but Mr. 
Robertson, aware of their intentions had an injunction 
ready, and thereby saved his building, and after a long 
litigation the question was decided in his favor. The 
Syracuse Medical College was located in the building in 
i860. One day in the month of March of that year the 
street in front of the college was packed by two thousand 
people filled with the greatest excitement that was ever 
seen in Syracuse. Three coffins were resting on biers 
placed on the sidewalk which contained the remains of 
Peter Tinker and his two little daughters aged six and 
eight years. The father had taken the life of his children 
and then destroyed himself, having been driven to this 
course from frenzy and desperation caused by the in- 



TO A CITY. 127 

fidelity of his wife. As the history of this shocking affair 
is now buried under the weight of mor.e that a quarter of 
a century, I feel it a duty to pass the matter by saying as 
little as possible, and let the curtain fall upon one of the 
saddest events in my memory. The testimony brought 
out on the coroner's inquest showed Tinker to have been 
a hard working, temperate man, devoted to his family 
whom he provided for and loved most tenderly. The 
father and his children were buried in one grave at Rose 
Hill. The daily papers announced that the Rev. A. A. 
Thayer would deliver a discourse on the death of Peter 
Tinker and his two daughters, the following Sunday at 
Wieting Hall. The large hall was filled with attentive 
listeners, and the speaker was earnest and eloquent, and 
as nearly as can be remembered, prefaced his discourse 
as follows : " The circumstances of the horrible tragedy 
which has agitated the public mind for the past week are 
too well known to need any circumstantial history on the 
present occasion. The apparent facts which have ap- 
peared before the public are briefly these : A gross 
libertine under the garb of a medical practitioner, entered 
the home of one of our peaceful citizens. He seduced 
a virtuous wife to leave her husband. He so corrupted 
the maternal affections that an indulgent mother spurned 
her own children. He so tainted a heart that had been 
quickened by grace, that she forsook religion and God, 
and children, and husband, and home, and Christian 
friends, to follow her seducer. It was a case of mere 
animal fascination — a weak bird magnetized by the eyes 
of a serpent. Though she have wings and the posses- 



128 FROM A FOREST 

sion of her senses and physical vitality, and can hear the 
chirping of her young, and can see her danger, and 
seems to possess all her powers ; yet she has no power to 
flee from the magnetic monster who lies enambushed for 
his prey. And when I look at the physiognomy of the 
two primary actors in this tragedy, and read the unmis- 
takable evidence of character which nature has written 
upon the face of every human being, I can but regard 
him as the serpent and her as his victim. She was once 
a virtuous and happy wife and mother; but now, alas! 
widowed, childless, vitiated, mocked of women and men, 
an outcast from Christian society, with nothing before 
her but the cold face of the hard world, and the howling 
poverty of a vagabond. Can you conceive of any human 
situation so pitiless, and yet so pitable ? And how the 
picture of a dead husband coffined between his dead 
children must mock her despair ! If God hath no mercy 
on the outcast, and will drive her from His presence, 
then where will she find shelter? If any being in our 
world deserves sympathy it is such an one." I will follow 
Mr. Thayer's remarks no further, but will say that an in- 
structive lesson is connected with this occurrence if we 
reflect how such tragedies are passed upon in different 
periods of the worlds history, To-day everyone will say, 
that there is nothing to justify in the father's course, 
every one would condemn his act. Two thousand years 
ago a similar tragedy was considered an exalted virtue. 
All students of Roman history will call to mind the des- 
perate choice of two evils, which was left for Virginius, 
when the Roman governor, Appius Claudius, a tyrant 



TO A CITY. 129 

and libertine, desired to possess his daughter the beauti- 
ful Virginia. No power nor persuasion could resist his 
determination. As he called for the delivering up of his 
victim, the father requested the privilege of one parting 
embrace, and while the hot tears ran down his face drew 
a dagger, plunging it into her breast, exclaiming, "O! my 
child ! thus only can I preserve thy virtue and give thee 
freedom." Then turning to the tyrant on the throne he 
said, "By this innocent blood O! Claudius, I devote thy 
head to the eternal Gods." 

THE HERMIT. 

Syracuse has been the home of many eccentric men, 
and but few have excelled a Scotchman by the name of 
Boyd. The year in which he first made his appearance I 
do not think it possible now to determine. He located 
in that portion of the village bounded by the Erie and 
Oswego canals and Foot street (now James) which, at 
that time, was a mere wagon road through the woods and 
but little travelled. He removed the thick growth of 
cedar from an acre of ground, surrounded it with a high 
board fence and built a little cabin in the centre, where, he 
dwelt entirely alone and lived on what he could grow in 
his garden. He never left this inclosure unless it was for 
some necessaries of life. He made no acquaintances and 
lived as much in seclusion as possible. His constant 
attention to his little plot of ground developed a produc- 
tive garden, in which he raised the choicest vegetables, 
which, at that time, he found ready sale at the locks, 
to supply the passing boatmen. While marketing his 
9 



I30 FROM A FOREST 

products the inquisitive propensities of many would in- 
duce them to interrogate him as to his history and how 
he could content himself to live so lonely a life. This 
seemed to annoy him much, and as far as possible he 
avoided this class, choosing to deal with those who asked 
him no questions. This trait of character was observed 
by ont dealer, and, as the vegetables brought to market 
were always of fine quality and attractively arranged, he 
asked him no questions other than related to the busi- 
ness between them. By this course he gained the confi- 
dence of the Scotchman, which in time resulted in quite 
a degree of confidence and friendship, and he was allowed 
to see his garden, which he found, in many particulars, 
as odd and peculiar as its owner. His little cabin was 
only of sufficient height for him to stand erect. A grape 
trellis was constructed on each side of the walk nearly to 
the street, over which the vines were trimmed and trained 
with the greatest care. There were several circular flower 
beds surrounding the little cabin, separated by narrow 
walks which were bordered with different varieties of 
ferns, and each flower bed contained but one variety of 
flowers. The effect was a great profusion of a few varie- 
ties, which indicated that these few were favorites. Trail- 
ing vines completely covered the cabin, and during the 
summer season it might have been considered an ideal 
home for a hermit. As the years went by many rumors 
gained circulation as to his history and his motives for 
living in solitude. His deportment and tidy appearance 
indicated that he had commenced life with fair prospects, 
and it was believed that some disappointment, such as 



TO A CITY. 131 

unrequited love, had induced him to no longer pursue 
the usual paths of life. Others believed that the love of 
money was a mania with him, that he was a miser, whose 
only thought was the worship of the money he had and 
could accumulate. This opinion gained ground and he 
was called the old miser. This belief induced a half 
dozen towpath ruffians to scale the high board fence one 
night and rob the Scotchman of his supposed treasures. 
They were poorly paid for the disgraceful outrage upon 
an inoffensive man, when they searched his cabin and 
found only a few dollars; if he had more it was carefully 
secreted. The most disgraceful part of this scandalous 
affair was the personal violence they perpetrated on the 
old man to compel him to produce more money. When 
they left him he was nearly dead from fright and the 
blows they had dealt him. His non-appearance the next 
morning as usual led his friend to make an investigation 
of the cause, when he was found in his cabin prostrated 
from the ill-treatment he had received from the robbers. 
This unlooked-for event in his life discouraged him, caus- 
ing him to feel that an innocent and harmless old man 
had no safety in his own cabin. His being so cruelly 
treated deprived him of all confidence in mankind, and 
he had no longer a desire to live in a world where such 
outrages were perpetrated. The consoling words of his 
friend, who sympathized with him and expressed his de- 
sire to remove him to his comfortable home and care for 
him until his recovery, so gained the Scotchman's confi- 
dence that he broke down in his long-kept purpose to 
die with his life's history unrevealed, and accordingly 



132 FROM A FOREST 

related why he absented himself from society and lived a 
hermit's life. Time has drawn his curtain of more than 
half a hundred years between us and this event, and it is 
probable that there are less than half a dozen citizens 
who even have a dim recollection of this eccentric char- 
acter. The version of the Scotchman's story was this : 
From his childhood days his life had been devoted to 
the worship of one he had early learned to love, when 
they, in their youthful innocence, whiled away the hours 
of ecstasy known only to childhood. The object of his 
devotion was so frail a flower she early left him for a bet- 
ter world, and ever after she filled his thoughts with 
love for her. Though dead, he felt she was with him 
still. He resolved to leave Scotland and find some se- 
cluded place in America where he would be free from all 
his friends and early associations, and spend his life in 
one uninterrupted thought of his young friend. Accord- 
ingly he located his little home isolated from all com- 
panions, except what mother nature gave him. The most 
singular part of the story was the firmness of his belief 
that his love was ever with him, although the world con- 
sidered him as living a lonely hermit's life; yet he felt 
the object of his affections was ever with him in his gar- 
den walks. The favorite flowers which she loved in their 
Scotland home, grew in the same beauty around his little 
cabin. His life had been one of complete happiness, and 
no power could convince him that she was not with him 
like a veritable presence. He felt his great mistake had 
been in locating in so public a place. The year of the 



TO A CITY. 133 

cholera epidemic in Syracuse, the hermit was found dead 
in his bed. 

THE STREETS OF SYRACUSE. 

Probably no department of our village and city munic- 
ipal affairs has been so poorly managed as the matter of 
the streets of Syracuse. Culpable negligence and unjusti- 
fiable indifference have existed. It is now more than sixty 
years since Syracuse was chartered a village, and still we 
are vastly behind our neighboring cities in the condition 
of our streets. Few cities have had to contend with more 
natural disadvantages than Syracuse. Much of the cen- 
tral portion of the city was originally a swamp and when 
the water was drained off, the ground was still soft and 
porous, so much so that every foot of Genesee street to 
the higher lands on the east were first paved with logs of 
wood to keep the horses and wagons from miring in the 
soft soil. On nearly all the other streets the same diffi- 
culties were encountered. Salina and Warren streets 
were no exceptions, and in the early days were " hard 
roads to travel." As an illustration of what these streets 
have been it is said that at one time it was impossible to 
make the trip from Onondaga Valley to Salina over the 
road that is now Salina street before June as the road- 
way made of brush and logs was under water until that 
time, and in consequence those making the trip between 
those two points were obliged to follow the hills in the 
eastern part of the town around to Salina. While work- 
men were engaged in excavating for the foundations for 
the Washington Block on Salina street they could not 
find a solid foundation in consequence of the filling up 



134 FROM A FOREST 

of this locality. When at the depth of fourteen feet be- 
low the surface they came to the original soil where they 
found the log road above mentioned in a good state of 
preservation. Recently while excavating in front of a 
block on Warren street several feet below the surface, a 
row of fence posts were uncovered standing in line, which 
at one time was a fence in front of a house when the 
surface was several feet lower than now. Clinton street, 
a part of which at one time was subject to inundations 
from the creek has been raised several feet. West Onon- 
daga street, when first laid out, was nearly impassable for 
loaded teams in consequence of quicksand even at so 
recent a date as 1847. After a heavy rain a horse that 
had been driven by the side of the road near the junction 
of Onondaga and Seymour streets became mired in the 
quicksand and in his struggles to free himself was soon 
so deep in the sand that his head only remained in sight. 
He was shovelled out with much difficulty. Onondaga 
street, which was originally in such a bad condition, was 
made one of the best streets in the town by the employ- 
ment of two men with their horses and carts who spent 
six months in constant daily labor drawing cinders from 
Mickles' furnace, then located at the foot of the hill at 
the junction of the roads leading to Onondaga Hill and 
Onondaga Valley, and covering the entire street to a 
sufficient depth to make a solid foundation. For years 
there was no better road in the town than the " cinder 
road." In 1835 the first cobble stone pavements were 
introduced. In that year the trustees of the village 
called for an election to decide by vote whether Salina 



TO A CITY. 135 

street should be paved from the north line of Fayette 
street to the south side of the canal, also to determine by 
v^te whether Salina street should be paved from the 
north side of the canal to Church street and the south 
side of Clinton Square from the west side of Salina street 
to Clinton street, and at the same time to determine by 
vote whether Genesee street from Warren street to Centre 
square (now Fayette Park) should be paved. At that 
date it was the custom of the people to vote upon the 
question of paving the several streets that were contem- 
plated, and those only were paved that had the requisite 
number of votes. At this election it was determined to 
pave only Salina street from Fayette to Church streets. 
The contract was let to parties from Utica, N. Y., as at 
that time there were no pavers here. Soon after Hanover 
square was paved, as during the year 1834-35 it was 
filled up to its present level with the great amount of 
earth furnished from the excavations for the cellars of 
the Franklin buildings, built in 1834, together with the 
broken brick and debris from the ruins of the stores from 
Salina to Warren streets, that were burned during the 
great fire of 1834. Perhaps no better illustration can be 
made of the great amount of fi'ling in this square and 
streets in its immediate vicinity than by referring to Van 
Husen's blacksmith shop, located on the corner of Warren 
and Genesee street. When it was built the sills were 
about ten inches above the ground, and in the last few 
years of its existence it was necessary to go down a steep 
grade to enter the shop. Warren street remained but 
little more than a country road until July 25th, 1837, 



J 36 FROM A FOREST 

when an ordinance was passed to plough out and pave 
the gutters on Warren and Montgomery streets between 
Jefferson and Genesee streets. North Warren street was 
opened in 1832. Foot street (now James) was ploughed 
and turnpiked in 1828. In that year notices were posted 
which read something as follows : "For the purpose of 
improving the road on Foot street and for the purpose 
of doing it with the best economy, any person needing 
earth for filling up lots or other purposes may take it 
from Foot street hill provided it be done in such a man- 
ner as to leave the road bed level, and in all cases to be 
taken between the stakes on each side of the road/ By 
order of the Board." August 9th, 1830, the following 
ordinance was published : " The Trustees of the Village 
deem it necessary to order side- walks on the several 
streets hereinafter specified, viz.: On Salina street from 
the Yellow brook (between Fayette and Jefferson streets) 
to the canal. From the north side of Salina street to the 
side cut, (Oswego canal) from that point on the east side 
of the street to the Court House. Also, from the bridge 
at the red mill on Genesee street to Montgomery street 
and from that point along the south side of Genesee 
street to Centre Square, and on all sides of the public 
squares. All of the above ordered walks must be laid in 
such a manner as to leave six feet for cellarways." At 
one time brick side-walks were the best in use. In front 
of the better buildings brick eight inches square were 
sometimes used, but more frequently common four by 
eight brick. Unless great care was taken in laying the 
walk, they would, after heavy rains yield to the pressure 



to a cnv. 137 

when walked upon. The more recent tar or cement walk 
is an improvement for a cheap walk. 

GROVES AND FOREST TREES. 

Of the many beautiful groves within the limits of 
Syracuse in its early days only a few can be mentioned. 
A most attractive one of noble pine trees situated near 
Clinton street has been described. On the block north 
of Fayette Park was a grove of tall trees which was 
valuable for building timber. In former times hewed 
timber was a necessity, as most of the saw-mills were 
capable of sawing only short timber. Many of the first 
houses built on West Genesee street were from timber 
cut from this lot. Henry Gifford cut the trees himself 
from this place for his first house, which he built on West 
Genesee street. When this remnant of the forest was 
cleared away, one of the first buildings erected on Fay- 
ette Park was on the lot occupied by the late John 
Crouse. Previous to the year of 1825, John Daniels 
purchased this lot and built a public house, designed to 
accommodate the transient travel on the great thorough- 
fare of the Genesee turnpike. Mr. Daniels sold to Mr. 
Luce who continued the same business for several years. 
Harmon W. Van Buren and several of the first settlers in 
Syracuse made this house their home until they pur- 
chased homes of their own. I was informed by some of 
them, that the first reading room ever established in 
Syracuse was in this house. Should the question be 
asked by whom the first nucleus of a circulating library 
v. as formed, none would think of going farther back 
than the so called Parish Library, which was formed and 



138 FROM A FOREST 

sustained by the united energies of Palmer Dyer, Rector 
of St. Paul's Church, and L. H. Redfield, yet the one 
above referred to antedates this by many years. Not- 
withstanding that at first the rougher elements of society 
were largely dominant in Syracuse and Salina, there were 
a few men of culture who had moved in the higher circles 
of society before coming to make homes among a rude 
class who had no taste for refinement nor literature. Dr. 
Kirkpatrick, who came here in 1806, and was for many 
years superintendent of the Salt Springs, was one of 
that number, who, feeling the need of the society to 
which he had long been accustomed, was the first in 
organizing the best element here into a circle which 
though small, was of a refined, intellectual and literary 
character. This little circle was composed of not more 
than eight or ten members, of which Dr. Kirkpatrick 
and Harvey Baldwin, then a young man, were the most 
prominent. The Doctor had long been a regular sub- 
scriber for the most popular English and Scotch reviews, 
and to him was entrusted the office of supplying the 
standard works, and it is said that to him belongs the 
credit of bringing, to Syracuse the first copy of Bulwer 
Lytton's novel, Falkland, first published in 1827. Mr. 
Luce furnished an ample room free of charge, and his 
accomplished daughter had charge of the reading matter. 
Once a month was held a social meeting for consultation 
and conversation on literary subjects, and on these occa- 
sions the popular landlord furnished a collation which 
made these entertainments very enjoyable as well as profit- 
able. Moses D. Burnet was among the first to locate here, 



TO A CITY. 139 

and he selected his home in a beautiful grove of walnut trees 
located on a rise of ground on James street. The usual 
way of reaching his house at that time was to follow the 
tow-path of the canal until opposite his house, where 
there was a road cut through the woods to the house. 
There was also a grove of walnut trees left standing on 
the corner of Lock and Pearl street, where St. John's 
Church is now. This walnut grove consisted of small 
straight trees several inches in diameter; all the under- 
brush was cleared away and the trees made a beautiful 
appearance, and were much prized by the owner, who 
was a very eccentric character by the name of Sackett, 
and then lived on North Salina street on the lot now 
occupied by Parshall's hardware store. Mr. Sackett was 
a man of wealth and a large owner of land, most of which 
he had procured by the purchase of land-claims from 
soldiers, some of whom after locating their claims were 
so desirous of raising a little money that they sold out to 
Sackett for fifty cents an acre, in some instances regret- 
ting it very much thereafter. Notwithstanding Sackett's 
well-to-do condition, he was very slovenly in his appear- 
ance, and it was said that sometimes during the hot 
weather he would wear an old sun bonnet to keep the 
sun from shining in his face. The house he lived in was 
unlike any that had ever been seen before and was ac- 
counted for in this way: He had employed a contractor 
to build him a house, which was to be finished by a 
stated time. Sackett waited until he was out of patience 
for the contractor to commence the job, but seeing no 
evidence of his intention to perform his contract, agreed 



I40 FROM A FOREST 

with another party to do the work which was to be com- 
menced at once. When the frame was up and partly 
enclosed, and before the expiration of the time agreed 
upon with the first contractor, he made his appearance 
with all the work, ready to be put up and completed 
within the time specified. Mr. Sackett was greatly 
astonished and chagrined, and on inquiry, by the con- 
tractor, as to where he would have his house placed, Mr. 
Sackett after a few moments hesitation directed it to be 
attached to the rear of the one that was then being built, 
where ever afterwards it made a most comical appear- 
ance. On account of his eccentricities he was made the 
subject of many jokes, one of which I will relate. One 
night a party of men took possession of his beautiful 
grove and with their saws had felled every tree before 
the dawn of day. This party was supposed to have been 
headed by one who was smarting with regret over the 
sale of some land claim for only a fraction of its value. 
The largest grove was located south of James street and 
contained thirty-five acres, the trees were tall and very 
uniform in size. Public out-of-door meetings were some- 
times held in this grove, such as Fourth of July gather- 
ings, the last one occurred in 1845, when the Bedell Bros, 
who kept a hotel on Salina street north of where the 
Malcolm Block is now, prepared a dinner in the grove at 
which two or three hundred could be seated at the same 
time. Soon after Green street was laid out through its 
centre, and those who were fond of a shady retreat 
located here for their homes. That some of these beau- 
tiful groves could not have been preserved for a park 



TO A CITY. • 141 

seems a misfortune, none of these wood covered plots 
would have been so desirable for this purpose as Prospect 
Hill; it seemed designed by nature for a park. Its 
height, shape and location, were all the most favorable. 
Originally it was forty or fifty feet higher than now, and 
clothed with fine specimens of the forest. Terraces of 
sufficient width for drives and walks could have been 
constructed from base to summit. One-half of what is 
to be expended on Burnet Park would have transformed 
Prospect Hill with its original wooded heights into a 
beautiful terraced mound. When our first Mayor, Harvey 
Baldwin, delivered his speech on what should be in- 
cluded within the limits of the city, and was indulging in 
the flights of fancy he encircled our lake " with a wide 
and splendid avenue, bordered with continued villas, 
shady groves and hanging gardens." Had he proposed 
Prospect Hill as the site of the hanging garden instead 
of the lake shore, he would have been more practical. 
This little mountain located near the center of our city, 
designed by nature to be a "thing of beauty and joy 
forever," with the waving branches of tall forest trees a 
hundred feet above our streets, would have filled every 
citizen with pride, when he reflected that no other city 
had a similar attraction so near its center. Large sums 
of money have been used, by different parties, to bring 
Prospect Hill to its present level. Many feet of its 
summit fill the depths of the old mill pond, and the soil 
fur many feet below the green turf of Armory Park was 
taken from this hill top. Different companies have 
labored with large forces of men and horses to fill up the 



142 FROM A FOREST 

valley between the two hills, with the vain hope predicted 
by many, that the Capitol of the State would be located 
here. Millions of dollars might have been saved to the 
State if this had been accomplished. After several un- 
successful attempts to obtain some legislative action on 
the removal of the Capitol to a more central part of the 
State, the most sanguine gave up all hope of ever seeing 
the State Capitol located on Prospect Hill. It was 
mapped out into streets and lots, and the map filed in 
the County Clerk's Office in 1856. Few villages had 
more admiration for fine specimens of the native forest 
than Syracuse. Only a few of these trees can be 
mentioned. Genesee street was justly entitled to the 
credit of the finest. One pine tree near the side- 
walk opposite the High School building, was probably 
the best specimen of the giants of the forest, — it was a 
little over twelve feet in circumference and of a great 
height. The means to convert it into timber were near at 
hand, as a saw mill stood within its shadow. It must have 
been reverenced for its greatness, as it was allowed to 
stand so long in a public place. An equally fine speci- 
men of the oak was standing near the side-walk in front 
of where the Grand Opera House is built. A fine wal- 
nut tree was standing in front of the present location of 
Wieting Opera House. At that time Mr. Judson's jewel- 
ry store was near by, and to this tree was nailed the 
first jeweler's sign that appeared in Syracuse. A walnut 
tree swung its wide, extended branches to the breeze 
near the corner of James and Pearl strets. This tree 
was made the subject of a comical joke. When North 



TO A CITY. 143 

Salina street was lined with cooper shops, there was great 
competition and jealousy existing between the coopers of 
the village and those of Cicero, the latter having the ad- 
vantage of cheaper materials near at hand, and for this 
reason could undersell the coopers of Syracuse. At that 
time there was a row of salt blocks on the banks of the 
Oswego canal which were furnished with barrels from 
Cicero. One evening several long loads of barrels from 
that place were left standing by the side of the road to 
be unloaded the next morning at the blocks near by. 
The jealous and irritated coopers of Salina street all turn- 
ed out at a late hour of the night; some of them cut the 
branches of this walnut tree in such a manner, that a 
barrel with a part of the head knocked in could be hung 
on the branches. The loads of barrels were all run un- 
der the tree, one load being left for a scaffold, which was 
covered with coopers handing up the barrels to those in 
the tree. In a short time most of the many branches 
upheld a barrel. The wagons were returned empty from 
whence they were taken, and the next day the street was 
filled with spectators to see the most comical sight that 
could be imagined. It was claimed that this was the 
first time a walnut tree was ever known to bear a crop of 
salt barrels. Those citizens who have spent three score 
or more years of life in Syracuse, can reflect on the many 
changes they have seen, — industries springing into activ- 
ity only to disappear. Forty or fifty years ago the roads 
leading to Syracuse were lined with wagons thirty or 
forty feet in length, with high racks filled with salt barrels 
to be filled and sent to all parts of the country. For 



144 FROM A FOREST 

years this industry has ceased to be active. It is also 
remarkable what circumstances have to do with localities 
as well as with individuals. A good illustration is Pearl 
street, which about seventy years ago was lined with one 
story buildings and slab shanties, occupied at first by 
those who dug the canal, and later by the first salt boilers. 
At this time it was called " Whitehall," from the cir- 
cumstance of these little dwellings being whitewashed 
inside and out several times during the summer season, 
as it was believed to be an antidote for the malaria then 
so prevalent. It certainly gave the little homes a neat 
appearance, and no doubt the inhalation of the vapor 
from the lime had a beneficial effect upon the health of 
the occupants. ''Whitehall" only exists now in the 
memory of very few. Fifty years ago Pearl street was 
lined with one and a half story houses occupied by re- 
spectable citizens. On the corner of Pearl and Willow 
streets lived Dr. Parker, a man popular as a good physi- 
cian and citizen. Recently I looked with astonishment 
at the changes time had wrought in this locality. Not 
one of the houses were left standing, but instead the 
ground was covered with the railroad ties of the West 
Shore road. Other localities, such as West Genesee 
street between Clinton street and the creek, until a few 
years ago remained with but little change, and even to-day 
many of the original houses are still there. Rev. Dr. 
Adams' house, that he first occupied in 1825, with many 
others in its near vicinity, are still standing where they 
were built sixty years ago. 



TO A CITY. 145 

ONONDAGA CREEK AND OTHER STREAMS. 

The few unassuming water courses which flow through 
Syracuse are mere rivulets compared to some others, yet 
they come in for their share of importance when the his- 
tory of Syracuse is written. One of these, called the 
Yellow brook, was once quite a formidable stream, but now 
only exists in memory and even its precise location is a 
matter of dispute among some of our older inhabitants. 
It found its way from the hills in the eastern part of the 
village, crossing, in its wanderings to Onondaga creek, 
Genesee street near Forman Park, and passing in a cir- 
cuitous route near the Jewish synagogue to the junction 
of Warren, Madison and Onondaga streets, where, near 
the location of the Farmer Block, its waters filled a pool 
of considerable size. From this point it crossed South 
Salina street half way between Jefferson and Fayette 
streets, whence it found its destination after crossing 
Clinton street. The mouth of the stream, as it entered 
the creek, was several rods in width. It is a problem of 
Syracuse to-day how to fill the mouth of the city's poor, 
but it was a greater problem in the early days of the vil- 
lage how to fill the mouth of Yellow brook, and appro- 
priations were made from time to time for this purpose, 
and the few inhabitants felt the tax for this purpose 
keenly. The banks of the small stream that continues 
to flow in the western part of the city, known as Harbor 
brook, were once covered with so dense a growth of 
brush and brakes that it was almost impossible to pene- 
trate it as the stream neared the lake. This brook is 
connected with a bit of history which will be of interest 
10 



146 FROM A FOREST 

to those not familiar with it. During colonial times the 
King of England granted to Sir William Johnson, for 
services during the French war, 100,000 acres of land 
north of the Mohawk. When war was declared between 
the colonies and the mother country, Sir William seemed 
to love each alike, and felt he could not war with either. 
When the time came that he must decide which he must 
serve, he made a long and earnest speech on the situation. 
A few hours afterward he died, and it was said by many 
that he caused his own death to avoid warring with either 
side. His son John inherited the immense estate and at 
once took part with the Tories against the colonies, 
whereupon his property was confiscated. He fled to 
Canada, and, raising a large force, proceeded to the 
Mohawk valley for revenge. The course of his army was 
up the Oswego and Seneca rivers to our lake where they 
were obliged to leave their boats, and, fearing that they 
might be destroyed by the enemy, found a safe harbor 
for them in the brook that was so thickly covered that 
notwithstanding a party was sent from Rome, N. Y., to 
destroy the boats of Sir John, they could not be found, 
and for one hundred and ten years this stream has been 
known as Harbor brook. Onondaga creek has been of 
some advantage as power for machinery before the days 
of steam, and has been of service for sewerage ; it has 
also been a great source of annoyance to us, without 
doubt being the cause of much sickness and death. Large 
sums have been spent to counteract this difficulty. The 
first dam across the creek was built in 1805 where Gene- 
see street crosses it, and was built of logs and earth in 



TO A CITY. 147 

such a way as to serve as a bridge and dam also. It was 
swept away by a freshet in 1807 and rebuilt where Water 
street crosses the creek. This dam was also of logs and 
of a much larger capacity than was necessary, causing 
the detention of a large body of water. At that time 
Clinton street was not a straight street, but wound around 
the mill pond. For many years there was much com- 
plaint among the inhabitants of the village that the pond 
caused much sickness in the place. So great was the 
complaint that in 1825 a much smaller dam was built. 
This did not entirely remove the difficulty, and as soon 
as Syracuse became a city the first great work was to cut 
a new channel for the creek and fill the old mill pond. 
There has been no greater improvement made within the 
limits of Syracuse, during my recollection, than the re- 
claiming of nearly ten acres near the centre of the city 
from a pond of water which constantly fluctuated in 
filling the full capacity of its banks, and during dry 
weather leaving bare a wide surface of mud and decaying 
algae, filling the central part of the town with miasma. 
Ague and fever was very prevalent. The filling in of the 
mill pond with earth from Prospect hill employed a large 
force of men and teams for several months, but the ad- 
vantages were greatly in excess of the outlay. By this 
means this immense frog pond was transformed into acres 
of green turf, which was laid out in a beautiful park and 
named Jefferson Park. Soon after an effort was made to 
obtain appropriations from the State for an Armory. 
After nearly $2,000 was raised by subscription, the State 
appropriated $5,000, and the first Armory was built in 



14S FROM A FOREST 

1858. It was quite an unassuming structure for so fine a 
location. In 187 1 it was destroyed by fire, and the fol- 
lowing year the present building was erected at a cost of 
$80,000, and the name of the park was changed to 
Armory Park, which was then inclosed with a substantial 
iron fence. A part of the tract reclaimed from the old 
pond is now occupied by an extensive coal yard, also the 
D. L. & W. R. R. depot and freight office, besides many 
other substantial buildings. In making a new channel 
for the creek its course through the city was greatly 
shortened, as the original channel was exceedingly ser- 
petine. South of Onondaga street, so far as the sanitary 
effects were concerned, an evil greater than the first was 
created, as the old channel remained filled with water 
without a current. These conditions were most unfavor- 
able to the health of the inhabitants of that part of the 
town. So frequent were malarial fevers that during some 
portions of the year one-half of the inhabitants on Baker 
street were shaking with the ague, and many on South 
Salina street suffered from the same cause. Repeated 
petitions were made to the Common Council for relief. 
Some of the greatest sufferers brought the matter before 
the Grand Jury for indictment as a nuisance, and upon 
the testimony of the best physicians, including Drs. Clary 
and Shipman, as to the sickness caused by these stagnant 
pools, the bed of the old channel was indicted as a 
nuisance, but for some cause there were no further legal 
proceedings. The Mayor called a public meeting as to 
the sense of the citizens, whether a tax should be levied 
for the purpose of filling the old channel south of Onon- 



TO A CITY. 149 

daga street. This meeting was attended by a large num- 
ber of citizens, the city hall was filled to its utmost 
capacity and a great interest was felt by those present. 
The meeting was opened by a prominent lawyer residing 
on West Onondaga street, who, in his usual earnest and 
eloquent manner, presented the facts concerning the dis- 
tress and sickness caused by the stagnant water in the 
old channel of the creek, and, to support his argument, 
referred to the testimony of the prominent physicians 
before the Grand Jury by which an indictment had been 
granted. An unexpected opposition arose from a strong 
party from the First and Second Wards, denouncing the 
proposed outlay in the strongest possible terms, stating 
that large sums had been expended in filling the 
mill pond and cutting new channels, and that compe- 
tent judges estimated that it would cost twice as 
much to fill the old channel as it cost to construct 
the new, and that the people of the First and Second 
Wards were tired of being taxed for further improve- 
ments for one side of the city, until something was 
done for their relief, as they were equal sufferers from 
the influence of the creek, that the southern and central 
portions of the city drained their filth into the creek, and 
that it was caused by the current to lodge in the many 
bends of the stream, and there pollute the atmosphere of 
their section of the city, and that they felt it was their 
turn to have the channel straightened in their locality 
before any further outlay was made. These points were 
well taken, and most forcibly presented. The discussion 
then became general and sharp, and speeches were made 



150 FROM A FOREST 

on both sides, which had a tendency to irritate, particu- 
larly those from the north side, who from the first had 
manifested a bad spirit. The feeling had become so in- 
tense between the two parties, that it looked as if the 
meeting would break up in confusion, when Charles 
Andrews gained the floor and with a heart always over- 
flowing with kindness, delivered one of the most concila- 
tory speeches I ever heard, in which he said that there 
should be no north nor south, that we were one people, 
and if any part was suffering from any cause, we should 
all sympathize and work to remove that cause. Mr. 
Andrews' speech was well received by all, seeming to be 
like " oil on the troubled waters," but the meeting ad- 
journed with but little accomplished. The following winter 
the Legislature appointed commissioners known as the 
Onondaga creek commission, who employed George 
Geddes to make surveys and report in his judgment the 
best means of improving the course of the creek to the 
lake. In the spring of 1867 the creek was troublesome 
in flooding its banks with an unusual freshet. The flats 
south of Onondaga street were under water, which 
reached as far as Salina street. The barns of the Oakwood 
street railway company, which had been erected the year 
before, and the houses near the creek on West Adams 
street were flooded, and the water was four feet deep in 
the parlors and living rooms of the brick gothic house 
standing near the creek on Adams street, the plank side- 
walk on Clinton near Onondaga street was afloat. The 
water was eighteen inches above the arches of the Onon- 
daga street bridge. While several people were standing 



TO A CITY. I5T 

on the bridge and viewing the great mass of water strug- 
gling to find its way under the arches, a sight was wit- 
nessed that shocked the strongest nerve. A boy who had 
built a raft from the floating boards to take a sail on the 
wide expanse of waters, had been so indiscreet as to ven- 
ture too near the strong current of the stream, in which 
he was caught, and was completely powerless, being car- 
ried along at a rapid rate in the centre of the stream, 
where he made his appearance but a few rods above the 
filled arches of the bridge, under which it seemed certain 
that he must plunge, and he, with all beholders felt that 
for his life there could not be a ray of hope. At that 
moment he was carried near a few twigs that hung from 
a small tree on the bank, and with a desperation known 
only to those who stare death in the face, sprang and 
caught the frail twigs and unexpectedly to himself and 
all who saw him, pulled himself to safety in the main 
branches of the tree, although it was trembling from the 
immense pressure of the water and was liable to give way 
any minute, he felt himself most providentially saved 
from what seemed certain death. He was rescued by 
Frank Billings, who constructed a raft and with a long 
rope, floated it under the tree and rescued the poor little 
fellow. The flood of that year was succeeded by ex- 
treme low water, and this condition was regarded by Mr. 
Geddes as most favorable for his calculations. He ex- 
hausted the appropriation of $r,ooo in surveys and maps, 
and he proposed to lower the bed of the creek by a cut 
that would average six and a half feet deep, and to put 
into this cut a timber floor made of plank four inches 



1$2 FROM A FOREST 

thick, twenty-eight feet long, laid across the channel, 
close together, and connected by iron dowels. On the 
ends of these planks build stone walls, without mortar, 
made of heavy stone, and four feet thick on the bottom 
sloping three inches to the foot on the face sides, and 
perpendicular on the bank sides — these walls to be six 
feet high. This would make a trunk twenty feet wide 
on the bottom, and twenty-three feet wide on the top, 
having a smooth plank floor. The bottom of this sewer, 
as it may be called, would rise in the sixty chains from 
Spencer street to the canal, five feet and a quarter; and 
the water running in it when it is six feet deep will have 
a velocity of four and three-quarters miles to the hour. 
The estimated cost was $135,108. The increase of 
taxation that followed the bonding for the two railroads, 
the Northern and the Chenango Valley roads was so 
great that nothing since has been done. 

ONONDAGA LAKE. 

The lake into which these waters flow is a beautiful 
sheet, about five miles in length from the mouth of On- 
ondaga Creek to its outlet into Seneca River, and of 
about the average breadth of one mile and a half. Its 
southerly margin is sandy and in many places marshy 
and its water shallow, but at a distance of from two to 
four hundred feet from shore it abruptly increases in 
depth one hundred feet or more. It is largely fed by 
subterranean springs several of which are easily identified 
by the extremely low temperature of the water in their 
vicinity, even in the warmest weather. The existence of 
these large fresh water springs so near our well known 



TO A CITY. 



'53 



and abundant reservoirs of salt water is a geological 
peculiarity not yet fully explained. We give here a cut 
showing a transverse section of the ancient Onondaga 
Valley before it was partly filled with drift. Also giving 
the thickness of the several strata, ascertained by boring 
salt wells at the lake. 




1 mack muck, five feet 2 Marl, five feet. 3 Blue clay, five feet. 4 
Fine sand, three feet. 5 Gravel, alternating from coarse to fine, one hun- 
dred and forty feet. 6 -Dark brown sand, one hundred and flffy-flve feet. 
7 Gravel, compact and cemented, twenty feet. 8 nard-pan, the primary 
formation on the bottom of the valley. AAA Sides and bottom of ancient 
vaUey excavated In red shale. B Alluvium Ailing the valley. D Onon- 
daga Lake. E Surface of the lake. 

The geology of cur county is more interesting than 
almost any other part of the state. The best geologists 
claim that we are living in a valley that has been partly 
filled during some period of the earth's history. Mr. 
Vanuxem in his geology says, " the real depth of the 
ancient Onondaga Valley cannot but be a matter of con- 
jecture, as its present known depth shows that its outlet 
has been cavered up by alluvium sand and rolled 
stones, with the exception of that part occupied by 
the lake. That the surface of the original valley was 
of red sand stone, the same as crops out on the shores 



154 FROM A FOREST 

of Lake Ontario." To the circumstance of the closing 
up of this vast basin we are indebted for our immense 
brine reservoir. The providential circumstances that 
have preserved our salt interests are most remarkable. 
Had it not been for the thin layer of marl and hard 
pan placed at the bottom of our lake, thus dividing 
the salt and fresh water, we should have a salt lake. 
Within a few weeks the great mystery has been solved 
where the rock salt beds were located. In 1820 the 
legislature passed an act authorizing Major Byington to 
bore for rock salt, the state to pay him two cents 
per bushel premium on all salt dug, used, or manufac- 
tured from such rock salt for ten years. His efforts to 
find rock salt were confined to the hills east of Salina. 
Great credit is due Mr. Vanuxem, who published a work 
in 1842, including the geology of our county, in which 
he gives reasons for believing that the rock salt must 
exist south of where the borings had yet been made, and 
from his suggestions I believe rock salt has recently been 
found in the. vicinity indicated by this geologist. 

Our beautiful lake has attracted many to its shores, 
some for pleasure and others to seek recreation in a boat 
ride upon its usually quiet and placid surface. Many 
have been drowned in its waters, some under the saddest 
circumstances. Of these I will only mention two unusu- 
ally sad cases of drowning, which at the time filled the 
whole town with sorrow and sympathy. These cases are 
separated by a period of fifty-seven years. ' The first is 
remembered now by only a very few. When the manu- 
facture of salt was commenced here much the same 



TO A CITY. 155 

interest was manifested as in the California gold mines in 
1849, men of wealth and culture being sometimes attract- 
ed here. Among this class first to make a home in Liver- 
pool, then only a small clearing in the woods, was 
Jonathan P. Hicks, who soon became a well-known and 
prominent business man in our county. In 182 1 Mrs. 
Hicks's sister, Miss Louisiana Mathews, came from her 
home in Johnstown, N. Y., for a visit. Miss Mathews 
was a very accomplished and beautiful young lady. 
There was also a highly respected and worthy young 
man living in Liverpool named Harvey Hawley, who 
became acquainted with Miss Mathews and married her. 
In a few weeks after, they left Liverpool, on the 2d of 
January, 1822, to attend the wedding of Mrs. Hawley's 
brother at Johnstown. This journey was a great under- 
taking at that season of the year, as many deep and dark 
forests must be encountered, and sometimes the roads 
could only be kept by blazed trees (a white spot made 
on trees by removing the bark with a hatchet). At that 
date such a journey was attended by perils and hardships 
unknown to the present age. They left Liverpool in a 
severe snow storm, expecting to be absent about three 
weeks. After an absence of six weeks, Mrs. Hicks wrote 
to her brother in Johnstown to discover why they re- 
mained away so long Two weeks were required to 
receive a reply, which was to the effect that they had 
not been there, and that the Johnstown friends supposed 
they were in Liverpool. Suspecting what might have 
happened, as soon as the snow was thawed from the ice 
search was made, which resulted in finding one corner of 



I56 FROM A FOREST 

the trunk above the ice and within the distance of a few- 
feet the horse and cutter. About five feet from the cut- 
ter Mr. Hawley was found and Mrs. Hawley was dis- 
covered entangled in the reins between the horse and 
dashboard. It was supposed that on account of the 
snow storm Mr. Hawley became confused, driving over 
some thin ice that had formed over a space cut away by 
the fishermen for their nets. The place on the lake 
where they were found is but a few feet above where the 
R. W. & O. R. R. crosses the Oswego canal, and was 
near the shore where the water was but six or eight feet 
deep. This accident filled a large circle of. relatives and 
friends with sadness at the time, and brought to every 
reflective mind the uncertainty of life. This young and 
accomplished couple, filled with hope and anticipation 
of a long and happy life which seemed to spread out 
before them, in which to enjoy each other's society, 
were, without a moment's warning or a parting good-bye, 
plunged into a cold and icy grave. To-day, those who 
stroll through the cemetery at Liverpool may see their 
quiet resting place, and upon a marble slab that has been 
beaten by the storms of three score years and seven, this 
simple inscription: 

Harvey Hawley, 

aged 28 years ; 

Louisiana, his wife, 

aged 18 years, 

Departed this life January 2, 1822. 

" They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
and in their death they were not divided." 



TO A CITY. 157 

An equally sad accident happened on June 20, 1879, 
by which Alfred T. Sanford and Miss Olive C. Holmes 
were drowned in Onondaga lake, near Lake View. Mr. 
Sanford was a son of Prof. H. H. Sanford, once a mem- 
ber of the faculty of the Syracuse University. Miss 
Holmes was the daughter of Judge S. N. Holmes of this 
city. These parties were from highly respected families 
of Syracuse, accomplished and carefully educated. Mr. 
Sanford graduated from the High School in 1873, and 
from the University in 1877. After this date he traveled 
in Europe, completing some of his studies in Germany. 
At the time of the accident he was a student at the Madi- 
son Theological Seminary. Mr. Sanford was a scholar 
of rare ability, and a nephew of Benjamin F. Taylor, the 
poet. Miss Holmes was a student at the High School, 
and a very beautiful and accomplished young lady. Mr. 
Sanford had just returned home for a short visit, and 
together with Mr. Arthur L. Howes, had invited the two 
daughters of Mr. Holmes to take a boat ride on the lake. 
Accordingly they procured boats at the Salina pier, and 
had made the trip safely across the lake, where they made 
a landing, and after a short ramble on the shore they 
proposed to go to another part of the lake in search of 
water lilies, and pulled away from the shore, keeping 
ten or fifteen rods apart. While attempting to change 
places in the boat it capsized, owing to its exceedingly 
frail and treacherous construction, and the parties were 
thrown into the water, and Mr. Howes made all possible 
haste to their rescue. When he arrived at the spot his 
boat was under such speed that it was carried by, and 



I58 FROM A FOREST 

before he could return the couple were seen to sink, 
clasped together. Mr. Howes dove into the water and 
made every effort to find them, but on account of the 
great depth of the water at this point he could not see 
them. Mr. Howes and the sister of the unfortunate 
young lady made haste home to bring the sad news. 
When it became known through the city, many repaired 
at once to the lake to render all assistance possible in 
recovering the bodies. Much sympathy was felt for the 
bereaved families, particularly that of Mr. Holmes, as 
five years previous one of his daughters met a violent 
death from the falling of the floor of the parlors of the 
Central Baptist Church during a festival. When the 
accident happened at the church, the young lady who 
was drowned was seated on a sofa, eating ice-cream, and 
when the floor went down she was saved from death by 
falling in such a manner as to be protected by the sofa. 
There were some circumstances connected with the 
drowning that the superstitious would have thought re- 
markable. When the boat ride Wu. proposed by the 
young men, Miss Olive seemed to be ac once filled with 
apprehensions of danger. So strong and increasing were 
these forebodings that she went to her mother for counsel, 
who advised her to suggest a carriage ride around the 
lake instead. This proposition was strongly opposed by 
the young men and the sister, and she was informed 
there could be no danger, as the men were both expert 
swimmers, Mr. Sanford stating that he once swam from 
Lake View to the Salina landing without difficulty. She 
then very reluctantly consented, but still felt strong mis- 



TO A CITY. 159 

givings as to safety. It was said that Mr. Sanford had 
just completed his first sermon, which he was to preach 
the next day, and in which, as an illustration, he had 
given a description of a drowning man. The efforts to 
recover the bodies of these unfortunate parties were 
unceasing, but they were not found until the eleventh day. 
The body of Miss Holmes was first discovered by her 
father, a mile distant from where the accident occurred. 

" THE EPIDEMIC AND ENDEMIC DISEASES OF THE VILLAGE 

OF SYRACUSE." 

The advent of the cholera in Syracuse in 1832 was not 
the sudden outbreak of an unexpected epidemic, but as 
an anticipated deadly scourge that was most sure to visit 
us, and from which there was but little hope of escape. 
It seemed an epidemic destined to travel over the whole 
world. It originated in 181 7 in the delta of the Ganges, 
near Calcutta, and drew nearer our shores every year. It 
ravaged the fairest portions of the world, and its victims 
seemed as numerous as the sands on the seashore. Its 
march had been as rapid as the shadows of the sun-dial, 
and it had clothed in sackcloth every city, village and 
hamlet through which it passed. In 1831 it spread over 
most of central Europe, appearing in England in October, 
and in January 1832 in Edinburgh. It first appeared on 
this side of the Atlantic in Quebec and Montreal on the 
10th of June, 1832. The newspapers published the full- 
est account of its ravages, very much to the discomfort 
and alarm of a large class of naturally apprehensive and 
timid people. The Board of health may yet think best, 



l6o FROM A FOREST 

on the approach of such alarming epidemics, to advise 
the suppression of the full particulars of the frightful loss 
of life as it was claimed in cases in Syracuse, that fear 
rendered some more susceptible to the disease. The 
cholera commenced in New York on the first of July, 
and from that time until the first of September was em- 
phatically the reign of the most awful pestilence that was 
ever known in that city. In sixty days there were over 
three thousand deaths from cholera, and the population 
at that time being only slight in comparison to what it is 
to-day. As soon as it became known in Syracuse that 
the dreaded disease had commenced its work of death so 
near as Montreal, the people were at once active in mak- 
ing preparations to meet it, by taking all sanitary pre- 
cautions, in cleaning yards and streets as far as possible. 
A meeting of the freeholders of the village was called on 
the 20th of June, 1832, for considering the best means to 
be pursued. They resolved to station two competent 
persons at Teall lock (so called) with directions to ex- 
amine every boat from the east, and should they find any 
sick to stop the boat until the sick could be examined by 
a physician from the village and then proceed according 
to the physicians directions. They also resolved that 
the physicians of Syracuse should constitute a board of 
health for said village. It was resolved at this meeting 
that the trustees be empowered to borrow a sufficient 
sum of money, not exceeding one thousand dollars on 
the credit of the inhabitants of the village, to be ex- 
pended, or any part thereof, for the benefit of the health 
of the village. A meeting of the trustees was called, 



TO A CITY. l6l 

when they resolved to divide the village into four wards. 
In the First ward, Silas Ames and E. B. Wicks were to 
have charge. Second ward, Henry Raynor and Theo- 
dore Ashley. Third ward, Paschal Thurber and B. C. 
Lathrop. The names of the Fourth ward I do not re- 
member. One of the duties of this committee was to 
cause a quantity of lime to be kept in each ward at all 
times, and that liberal use be made of it wherever they 
deemed necessary. On the 25th of June the board of 
trustees of the village of Syracuse adopted the following 
resolutions : " Whereas, a disease commonly called Asiat- 
ic Cholera exists in Quebec, Now, whereas in pursuance 
of authority to us given by the Governor of the state by 
proclamation, we, with a view to prevent the introduction 
of the disease into Syracuse, order as follows : — No canal 
boat having any person on board sick with cholera shall 
approach within one mile of the village, unless such boat 
has first performed a quarantine of fifteen days or until 
Dr. George Hooker or any other appointed physician 
shall certify that no such cholera patient be on board." 
The board of trustees petitioned the Governor, to appoint 
and commission Dr. Jonathan Day of the village of Syra- 
cuse to proceed forthwith to Montreal, for the purpose of 
ascertaining the best mode of treatment to be employed 
for cholera patients. Dr. Day's visit to the cholera 
stricken city of Montreal was short, and without any sat- 
isfactory resales. Yet it was illustrative of the confidence 
the people of Syracuse reposed in the medical fraternity. 
Fifty-seven years have passed by since that occurrence, 
and yet this epidemic possesses a character which has 
11 



l62 FROM A FOREST 

hitherto defied all the researches of philosophy, and with 
our present measure of information respecting such dis- 
eases, it is scarcely to be presumed that we could possess 
the means to prevent it if our resources were so extensive 
as to be limited only by the measure of possibility. Who, 
in the exercise of his senses, would pretend to arrest the 
march of influenza or measles ? And yet those diseases 
were known and described two thousand years ago. We 
may as well confess our ignorance at first as at last. The 
most intelligent physician or natural philosopher knows 
no more of their causes than the peasant or the arti- 
zan. The only difference between them is, that the one 
can conceal his ignorance in terms of science, while the 
other is obliged of necessity to confess it. Nature will 
sometimes reveal her secrets at the stern demand of 
science, yet there are some secrets she stubbornly refuses 
to make known, and epidemic cholera is one of these. 
The air has been tortured in. vain to reveal the secrets, 
no sidereal, telluric, nor appreciable atmospheric changes 
have been satisfactorily connected with its endemic or 
epidemic appearance ; bacteria, animalcule and fungus 
growth have been equally unable to account for it. Of 
its primary cause the world with all its science and 
M. D.'s is yet unable to account for the cholera. The 
first case of cholera occurred in Syracuse on the 17th of 
July, the victim being a laborer, living on Clinton street. 
The day had been very hot and the man had drank freely 
of cold water, which was given as a reason for his death, 
but the next day another case occurred which proved 
fatal in twelve hours, and was so well denned that there 



TO A CITY. 163 

could be no doubt of its being cholera. The Rev. Nelson 
J. Gilbert preached the funeral sermon. The follow- 
ing evening he was stricken down with the disease, and 
died within a few hours. This circumstance seemed to 
be evidence that the cholera was contagious, and there 
were few, if any funeral services held thereafter. Mrs. 
Gilbert was attacked with the same disease within a 
few hours of her husband's death. Dr. Day attended 
both cases which seemed precisely alike in every res- 
pect. The doctor allowed the free use of ice-water in 
Mrs. Gilbert's case during the first stages, until she be- 
came too weak to swallow. Though there were indica- 
tions of death, such as cold limbs, the eyes set, and a 
seemingly unconscious condition, life continued and she 
finally recovered. Dr. Day was in hopes that he had 
found in the ice-water what would be useful [in other 
cases, but in this he was disappointed. Two domestics 
in the Gilbert family left as soon as they found that 
cholera was in the house, but both died within a day or 
two. After these cases there was no disguising the fact 
that the fearful disease was establised in Syracuse, and 
from the popularity of Mr. Gilbert and his temperate and 
regular habits, it proved that the disease was no respecter 
of persons, and was not, as had been reported, largely 
confined to the lower classes of intemperate people. 
Cases in rapid succession occurred in different parts of 
the village, also in the hotels where guests from New 
York and Albany were staying. The number of deaths 
daily increased and furnished much work for the under- 
takers. Alarm and dismay seized a large class of the 



164 FROM A FOREST 

inhabitants, and with the increase of fear the disease also 
seemed to increase. The two officials stationed at Teall's 
lock, for the purpose of establishing a quarantine, had 
detained several well filled boats (it must be remembered 
that at that time nearly all travel was confined to the 
canal boats). Much complaint arose among the pas- 
sengers and the captains of the boats about being com- 
pelled to be thus detained to perform quarantine in an 
inland town. While this matter was being discussed be- 
tween the owners of the boats and the officers of Syra- 
cuse, another serious matter came up for consideration. 
The canal boat "Western Barque" which had left Albany 
after the cholera had appeared in that city, had made its 
way westward as far as Utica, with about sixty passen- 
gers, composed of English, Swiss and Irish emigrants. 
The boat was said to have become very foul, and the 
large number confined under the low decks of a canal 
boat, afforded the most perfect conditions for a pesti- 
lence. The captain was the first to succumb to the 
cholera; within six hours after the beginning of the 
attack, and by the time the boat was stopped at Syra- 
cuse, there were several dead and others sick. Mr. Gould, 
the grave digger, was at once informed that he must 
increase his forces, as he must furnish graves for others 
besides the citizens of Syracuse. Another boat, "The 
Columbia," had on board over fifty passengers. The 
cholera made its appearance when near Utica, and on 
arrival in Syracuse six persons had died. They were 
buried in the old burying ground west of Clinton street. 
The Board of Health, together with the more intelligent 
citizens, became alarmed at this feature of the case, and 



TO A CITY. 165 

at once decided to raise the quarantine and allow the 
boats to proceed as fast as possible on their way through 
Syracuse to their destination. An attempt to fulfil the 
law of quarantining every boat, according to Governor 
Troop's proclamation, would soon establish an immense 
hospital and concentrate in our midst a condition, the 
consequences of which could be nothing less than appall- 
ing. During the days of the greatest number of deaths, 
the bodies were buried after midnight and the rumbling 
of the wheels on the streets at night filled the minds of 
many with more fear than though the true number of 
deaths had been known to them, as they were apprehen- 
sive that an effort was being made to suppress the true 
conditions. Such a time is a good school in which to 
study human nature. While some were nearly frantic 
with fear, others were as cool and indifferent as if noth- 
ing unusual was transpiring around them. Of the several 
resident physicians of Syracuse, Dr. Day was by far the 
most popular. He was well educated in his profession, 
and possessed a sympathetic nature, and unlike the phy- 
sicians of to-day, spent his whole time, as far as possible, 
with the sick, to watch for himself the effects of the 
remedies prescribed. By such a course, together with his 
kind words of hope and encouragement he endeared him- 
self to his patrons, and when he was stricken down with 
this destroyer, many seemed to feel that they were left to 
the mercy of the disease. Yet to all appearance the death 
rate was no greater after his death, and it is probable that 
had there not been a physician in Syracuse, the death 
rates during the cholera siege would not have been in- 



1 66 FROM A FOREST 

creased, as no effectual remedy was ever found. Many 
experiments were tried by the empirics without effect. 
One remedy being to heat a bushel of salt to a tempera- 
ture just below that of burning the flesh of the victim, 
and when the cold stage of the disease made its appear- 
ance, to place the heated salt and the patient in a sheet 
and roll them together snugly. .Although ingenious, this 
procedure would not restore to the system that heat 
which sustains life. In other cases they were not a few, 
some of those having no friends nor families to look after 
them, crawled away in some salt block or out of the way 
place and contended single handed with the monster, 
sometimes coming off victorious, and their cadaverous 
countenance and personal appearance showing what they 
had suffered. The above doubt in the efficacy of the 
physician's remedies may be criticised, but in support of 
the statement I will quote as high authority, James R. 
Manley resident physician of the city of New York dur- 
ing both years of the cholera in that city, and at that 
date one of New York's most eminent practitioners, in 
a memorial addressed to the Legislature of the state of 
New York, April 17th, 1833, upon the cause and treat- 
ment. We give space for only a few lines of this most in- 
teresting and able essay. " Cause : — A frank confession 
of ignorance is always more becoming than a labored 
attempt to conceal it. The world has been amused for 
centuries by speculations on the causes of epidemics, and 
to this hour we are as ignorant as those who lived three 
thousand years ago. We can arrange facts, we can frame 
analogies, copy tables of temperature, measure by the 



TO A CITY. 167 

ingenuity of dial plates the humidity of the atmosphere, 
note its weight, measure its density ; nay we may and 
have ascertained its component parts with a precision 
which leaves no room for deception, in so far as the con- 
stituents are cognizable by our senses ; and after all what 
information have we acquired which we can apply to 
practice in enabling us to control the agency of the still 
unknown cause? We have satisfied ourselves that there 
are agents whose force we cannot measure, and whose 
power we therefore cannot appreciate. The gaseous 
materials which enter into the composition of our atmos- 
phere we have analyzed, but there are also constituents 
so subtle that the gases compared with them, are ponder- 
ous masses of brute matter, and for all our knowledge to 
the contrary mere instruments through which these sub- 
tle agents operate. Our knowledge of meteorology is 
very limited, and can never become very extensive, inas- 
much as the agents most efficient in producing the 
changes in our atmosphere are precisely those whose 
nature we cannot examine, and whose properties we can- 
not therefore fully estimate. All that is left to us then, 
is honestly to confess our impotence, and confine our- 
selves within the scope of our known powers. Of the 
cause of the epidemic we know nothing. Treatment: — 
It is unfortunate for humanity and not less so for the 
interests of science, that seasons of great public distress 
from pestilence are those in which fraud and imposture 
are most successful. Where there is no opportunity for 
examination into facts and especially where there is no 
ability to reason from or improve them ; assertion will 



l68 FROM A FOREST 

readily pass for truth and impudent pretension for scien- 
tific acquirement. Every country under heaven which 
cholera has visited presents the same sickening details of 
fraud and imposture ; and it is not to be expected that it 
is within the scope of possibility to enumerate the reme- 
dies to which the cure of this disease has been confided. 
Among the profession themselves, and those of them too, 
who may of right claim distinction, a most unaccountable 
discrepancy of opinion and practice has prevailed." 
When the doctors disagree who shall decide ? 

Salina, what is now the First and Second wards, then 
contained quite as large a population as Syracuse. The 
cholera was equally destructive there and perhaps in 
1834 a greater number of deaths occurred than in Syra- 
cuse. Mr. Hill, a resident of Salina, returning home at 
nine o'clock one evening, passed a neighbor's house con- 
taining a family of five who were all well. The next 
morning he saw there was trouble, and calling found 
three of the five dead, whom he had seen in apparent 
health only a few hours before. Such cases were not 
uncommon. A portion of the people kept on with their 
business as usual, while a large number would congregate 
on the street corners relating the death of friends and 
neighbors. Fear compelled many to leave the place, in 
fact, all who could get away, left for Onondaga and Pom- 
pey Hills and other elevated places. Truly it was a sad 
time. Mr. Campbell, the sexton at Salina, was kept busy 
with his old dilapidated hearse, with its narrow box of 
plain boards painted black, an object frightful enough to 
strike terror to the bravest heart. This was on the street 



TO A CITY. 169 

day and night. When a person died they were rolled up 
in their clothing, laid in their coffin, and thus found their 
resting place. Every countenance wore the expression 
of seriousness. The voices of mirth and merriment were 
everywhere hushed, and sadness and gloom seemed to hang 
like a pall over the town. Among the most prominent 
victims I still remember, were Dr. Kirkpatrick, Anson 
Richmond, uncle to Dean Richmond, I. Dunscombe, 
Wm. Smith and wife, a very highly respected young man 
named Holcombe, Dr. Jonathan Day and Rev. N. J. Gil- 
bert. The whole number of deaths in Syracuse from 
cholera I do not think was ever known, as records during 
that exciting time if kept at all must have been far from 
accurate. It would be safe to place the number at one 
hundred during the two years of 1832-4. The year of 
1833 was an unusually healthy one, there being but 
seventeen deaths, nine of that number were less than one 
year old. The population of Syracuse in 1832 was 3100, 
with eleven practicing physicians, prominent among whom 
were Drs. Day, J. W. Hanchett, George Hooker, Lyman 
Clary, James Foran, R. R. Davis and Hiram Hoyt. 

Among those most affected by fear were Mr. Holcombe 
and Dr. Kirkpatrick, both gentlemen of refinement and 
culture. The village of Syracuse probably never con- 
tained a man of more rare qualities than Dr. Kirkpatrick. 
He was a graduate of Princeton College, N. J., and first 
settled in Whitestown, N. Y., where after ten years of 
practice he felt a growing desire to abandon a profession 
which required him to constantly mingle with those in 
pain and suffering. Notwithstanding his education was 



170 FROM A FOREST 

of the highest order, acquired by years of close applica- 
tion to study, he resolved to discontinue the practice of 
medicine, and accept the office of Superintendent of the 
Onondaga Salt Springs, which position he filled with 
ability for a period of more than twenty years. His leis- 
ure hours were devoted to study and research, there being 
but little of interest in the world made known by the 
press which escaped his notice. When the cholera scourge 
made its appearance in Central Europe and other 
places, he was at once interested and thus became 
acquainted with its dangers. He had read accounts of 
its ravages in the island of Java the previous year, how 
many persons attacked died within an hour and some 
in twenty minutes, and that in many instances no time 
was allowed to administer remedies of any kind, many 
of the laboring poor dying on the streets. He well un- 
derstood its nature and history, how at one time it was 
found creeping along with slow and steady pace, through 
a country at an average rate of thirty miles per day, and 
at another time bursting out in the midst of a devoted 
city containing a million of souls, with the violence of an 
surcharged volcano, leaving its dismayed inhabitants con- 
founded in all their speculations on the cause of a fatality 
that numbered the living with the dead, at the rate of 
one thousand a day when operating in the fullness of its 
deadly powers, which was literally true in the city of 
Paris. In the city of Mexico, with a population of about 
200,000, the deaths at one period, were 700 per day. 
Accounts like these would cause a man with a nervous 
temperament like Dr. Kirkpatrick, to be dismayed at the 



TO A CITY. 171 

danger which was daily carrying to the grave numbers of 
his friends and neighbors. He was also deprived of that 
hope and confidence which sustain some in the belief 
that death is only the gateway to a more beautiful and 
happy existence. On the contrary, it was said of him 
that the thought of death brought an awful horror, the 
idea of exchanging this beautiful world, with its sunshine 
and flowers, its songs of birds and the love of friends, to 
sleep in the dark, cold grave. " To lie in cold obstruction 
and to rot," was to Dr. Kirkpatrick, as with the re- 
nowned Dr. Johnson, too horrible to contemplate. It 
was said that a near neighbor came rushing into Dr. 
Kirkpatrick's house in great alarm to borrow a syringe, 
as a member of his family had cholera. It was believed 
at that time to be a contagious disease, Dr. Kirkpatrick 
felt that by this circumstance he had been exposed, the 
person coming directly from the bedside of the patient. 
This so affected his mind, that he was taken sick and 
died in a few hours. I have heard this case alluded to 
as here stated by Drs. Foran and Hiram Hoyt, as showing 
the effects of mind upon the body. On the last Sunday 
in July of 1834 more cholera victims were buried than 
on any other one day in that year. Theodore Ashley 
having charge of ten funerals of which number seven 
were assigned to Charles F. Williston, who was appren- 
ticed to Mr. Ashley to learn the cabinet makers trade. 
In those days cabinet makers performed all the duties 
which have since been assigned to undertakers. 

From its earliest days to the present time Syracuse has 
been most fortunate in escaping epidemic diseases, the 



172 FROM A FOREST 

cholera above described being the only occurrence of 
this most to be dreaded affliction. Some evidence will 
be offered to show that Syracuse, aside from the preval- 
ence of one endemic disease, is more healthy than any 
other part of the county or even the state. Onondaga 
and Pompey Hills and other elevated portions of the 
county, are credited with being more healthy by far than 
Syracuse, yet this might be difficult to establish as a fact 
as these localities have suffered by what appeared to be 
local epidemics, while Syracuse has escaped. About 
1830 a fever of a low grade visited Pompey Hill and 
afflicted many of its inhabitants ; it was considered con- 
tagious and in many instances proved fatal. So trouble- 
some was this malady that Dr. Stearns wrote a lengthy 
article at the time in description of its character. About 
1845 tne elevated locality of Otisco was afflicted by a 
disease called "black tongue," which was so prevalent that 
it caused great alarm among the people. It made its ap- 
pearance in the district schools which were discontinued, 
and Mr. Loomis, a teacher, died with the disease. The 
most destructive epidemic that ever occurred in this 
county was in 1828, when it appeared in every variety of 
grade, from the mildest to the most stubborn and malig- 
nant affection, and undoubtedly resulted from animal 
and vegetable decomposition. In July of that year im- 
mense rainfalls had occurred and the county was com- 
pletely deluged with water, the ensuing weather was 
extremely hot and with this state of things the epidemic 
commenced its ravages. During the spring of 1834, 
Onondaga Hill was visited with scarlatina, which pre- 



TO A CITY. 173 

vailed there with malignity, the population at that time 
being 400 and in so small a number as many as fifty or 
sixty cases appeared, in some instances proving fatal in 
thirty-six hours. The winter had been very unusual for 
its mildness, the month of February was without a storm 
and as warm as April. What was most remarkable dur- 
ing this period of epidemic diseases Syracuse was in un- 
usual health. The object of thus referring to the health- 
fulness of our surrounding locality, is to strengthen the 
belief that the health of the inhabitants of Syracuse is 
protected to a greater extent than we are aware by the 
Saline influences in our atmosphere. This subject has 
been too much neglected by the medical profession. 
Syracuse hardware dealers find that it is not safe to 
expose their cutlery to the atmosphere, as rust so soon 
corrodes the polished surface. I recently had an oppor- 
tunity to observe this condition, in its effects upon tin 
roofs, one of which covered a roof in the city, and the 
other at Onondaga Valley, the tin was precisely the same 
and both roofs were laid at nearly the same time. In a 
few days the roof in Syracuse became rusty, and to save 
it from destruction required painting, while the roof at 
the Valley for months remained bright and free from 
rust. These conditions in our atmosphere are too obvi- 
ous to need farther proof. The effect upon this immedi- 
ate vicinity of large masses of vegetation, indigenous to 
the sea coast, such as samphire, which covers with a 
dense growth acres of marsh lands near our lake, should 
be considered. At one time samphire claimed some 
attention from the belief that it contained iodine, and it 



174 FROM A FOREST 

was most carefully analyzed by Stephen Smith, for many 
years connected with our salt interest, and Prof. Stillman, 
and not the slightest trace of iodine was detected, but 
the plant was discovered to be composed almost entirely 
of muriate of soda. From these facts it would seem that 
this vast amount of vegetation yearly depositing its prop- 
erties in the soil, and constantly evaporating would exert 
an influence upon the atmosphere of Syracuse. Hun- 
dreds of acres have been covered with salt vats contain- 
ing the strongest of brine, some of which has percolated 
into the soil, and must continue to affect the atmosphere 
by imparting to it a degree of pungency and keenness, 
whether arising from their saline particles or their 
elements, matters not. How far these vapors may be of 
value in warding off and protecting us from the influence 
of miasmatic diseases, is a difficult matter to establish, 
but of its efficiency in destroying mephitic animal gases 
there can be but one opinion, and if so, the atmosphere 
of Syracuse is to a great extent freed from those sources 
of malignant diseases, which may arise from any cause. 
In support of this theory, it has long been observed that 
men employed in the manufacture of solar salt, though 
they be ignorant and careless in regard to the laws of 
health, are as a rule healthy and are very seldom num- 
bered among the sick. During the cholera visitation 
here, there were about one hundred men employed about 
the solar salt works, and their habits were such as 
were supposed would attract the disease, yet they all 
escaped. Typhoid fever usually claims a large number 
of victims from all parts of the land, and in many 



TO A CITY. 175 

localities has been epidemic to an alarming extent. The 
cities of Brooklyn and Albany, and many other places, 
have suffered from its effects. In Newport, N. Y., in 1845 
typhoid fever was so prevalent that there were not well 
persons enough to care for the sick, and assistance was 
required from the adjacent county. About 1856 the 
fever was more prevalent and more deaths occurred in 
the little village of Baldwinsville, than I ever knew to 
result from that disease in Syracuse in the same length of 
time. If the cause of this exemption was known, it is not 
improbable that it w r ould be credited to the atmospherical 
conditions alluded to above. In still further support of 
this theory, experiments have been successfully tried 
where decaying vegetable matter produces ague in par- 
ticular localities, certain kinds of plants may be rendered 
useful in absorbing the effluvia as fast as it is produced, 
and thus prevent the poison from attacking the inhabi- 
tants. The sunflower is said to be one of the most active 
absorbers of ague poison; the hop plant is another. In 
1855 the experiment was tried at Washington, by Lieut. 
Maury, on the grounds near the Potomac, where the 
observatory stands, and which were known to be exceed- 
ingly unhealthy at some seasons of the year, from the 
effects of decaying vegetable matter, the inhabitants 
always suffered from the annual visitation of ague. The 
fever was observed to make its appearance during the 
five months of the year in which the decay of vegetable 
matter was most active, in the marshy grounds around 
the observatory, or within a short distance of the place. 
In the fall of 1855 Lieut. Maury caused a strip of land 



176 FROM A FOREST 

45 feet wide to be dug about two feet deep, around the 
observatory, at a distance of about 200 yards from the 
river. This land was properly prepared for seed, and in 
the spring of 1856 was sown with the seeds of the sun- 
flower plant which flourished well, and in the month of 
August following, when ague fever might have been ex- 
pected to appear as usual, no sickness occurred, and to 
the surprise of everybody the locality remained quite 
healthy during the whole season. This was a remark- 
able experiment and worthy of universal attention. It 
would seem that the success of this experiment is of suffi- 
cient consequence as an indication that the field is wide 
for research in this direction, and a method found, if 
possible, of absorbing, on a larger scale, the poisonous 
effluvia of decaying vegetable matter in marshy places, so 
as to prevent, to some extent at least, the ravages of 
ague, cholera, and yellow fever, in countries where these 
dire diseases are most prevalent. Hitherto the progress 
of the world has been slow and unsuccessful in determin- 
ing the cause and cures of even the simplest diseases 
which are common in the nursery of every family, such 
as whooping-cough and measles, yet from the days of 
./^Esculapius and Hippocrates to the present day, there 
has never been a physician who could inform us of the 
cause and prevention of these simple diseases. The pre- 
vailing disease of Syracuse, which has been the cause of 
more sickness and suffering by far than all the other 
maladies to which we are liable, has been a fever caused 
by malaria or from poison arising from the decomposition 
of vegetable matter in the midst of stagnant water and 



TO A CITY. I 77 

marshy grounds. What the chemical nature of this 
effluvia may be, has not yet been positively ascertained. 
Some say carbonic acid mainly; others, nitrogen; others 
again, hydro-carburetted gas or a peculiar compound of 
nitrogen and oxygen called septon. In the early history 
of Syracuse so favorable and abundant were the con- 
ditions to generate fever poison, and so highly charged 
was the atmosphere, that the fever was of a malignant 
type and frequently dangerous to life, while at a later 
date, when the causes were less abundant, the same dis- 
ease was of a much milder form. Much has been already 
said in description of this endemic disease; so exceed- 
ingly prevalent and troublesome has it been that the peo- 
ple of the present day can hardly comprehend what the 
inhabitants were obliged to endure. Physicians have made 
a specialty of treating this disease. Dr. Zenas Corbin 
made himself wealthy and popular as a specialist, and for 
many years Corbin's Ague Cure required an ample space 
in all our drug- stores, from which place it found its way 
into many houses. Even so late a period as the first 
years of our city life the mechanics and laboring classes 
were extremely annoyed by this disease. Dr. Moore felt 
such compassion for these poor people who were spend- 
ing their time and money in consequence of the fever, 
that he hung a sign in front of his drug-store that read: 
" Fever and Ague Cured for One Dollar." Great num- 
bers availed themselves of this generous offer, and many 
a quinine bottle was emptied in his store. The citizen 
of to-day will comprehend, to some extent, the great 
amount of labor performed by lowering the lake, drain - 
12 



178 FROM A FOREST 

ing the swamps and stagnant pools once so numerous, 
and a lurking place for this troublesome disease, and 
will also rejoice with me in seeing a completion of a 
work which has been continued through the long period 
of sixty-nine years. The garbage wagon of the present 
time has been the instrument to complete the task of 
filling the old channel of the creek and every pool in 
its vicinity. In consequence of all this that has been 
accomplished no citizen of Syracuse shivers within the 
clutch of the ague and it is probable since its last hiding 
place is obliterated it has taken its departure forever. 

There have been three periods in Syracuse when the 
inhabitants have suffered more than usual by sickness. 
In 1847 a disease most commonly called ship fever or 
emigrant fever, was quite prevalent along the line of 
emigrant travel. At that date and for a year previous, 
there had been unusual suffering in Ireland, famine pre- 
vailed among the inhabitants and so great was the dis- 
tress from scarcity of food, that parliament voted $50,- 
000,000 to relieve the famishing poor. Many became 
discouraged and resolved to emigrate to America, where 
famine was never known. In the over-loaded ships 
where large numbers of these half starved people were 
stowed away, every condition existed for the outbreak of 
pestilence and death in some form, and ship fever was 
the result. The quarantine grounds were filled with these 
people, and at one time there were 1382 persons lying 
sick with the fever in the emigrant sheds in Montreal 
and to some extent the fever found its way among the 
inhabitants. At that date large numbers of emigrants 



TO A CITY. 179 

were shipped from New York west, by way of the Erie 
canal, and Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo were in a 
measure sufferers from the disease. In Syracuse it was 
quite prevalent, though in a mild form, yet quite a num- 
ber died from it. J. P. Dodge was at that time the prin- 
cipal undertaker, he seemed much elated over the in- 
crease of his wealth which this harvest of death had 
brought him, and frequently boasted to his friends that 
he had " planted " so many during the week, but seem- 
ingly as a retribution for his unfeeling remarks, he too fell 
a victim to the fever and was "planted" with the rest 
at Rose Hill. For a few years previous to 1849, cholera 
had been prevalent in Europe, and it was feared and 
expected that it would visit America in the same manner 
as in 1832-34. In the fall of 1849 a disease resembling 
Asiatic cholera made its appearance in several of our 
northern cities, and quite a panic was the result, and 
hospitals were extensively organized in some cities in 
anticipation of a fearful epidemic. The disease, however, 
proved comparatively mild, and possibly may have been 
nothing more than cholera morbus. There were about 
a dozen cases in Syracuse said to have been cholera, 
this was sufficient to create an excitement among the 
more timid of our citizens, and every effort to avert the 
disease was made, but it very soon passed by and quiet 
was restored. Notwithstanding the city was in usual 
health, the following notice made its appearance in the 
newspapers : 

"NO MORE CHOLERA 

By order of the Board 

S. Corning Judd, Clerk." 



i8o 



FROM A FOREST 



The lack of proper punctuation in the notice made con- 
siderable amusement, whether the error was the fault of 
the printer or the clerk, it was all the same to his fun 
loving friends, who joked him in assuming to have power 
to banish the cholera. In 1865 there was more than the 
usual amount of sickness, those diseases generally pecu- 
liar only to the autumn months made their appearance 
in the summer, severe cases of dysentery occurred, many 
proving fatal. Malarial fevers to an unusual degree pre- 
vailed throughout that year. 

EARLY BUSINESS MEN. 

The recital of the evolution of the first crude dwellings 
of the early settlers, to the spacious and magnificent 
blocks and residences that adorn our city, together with 
the redemption of our miles of city streets from the log- 
filled roads of mud that existed in early times, would 
be incomplete without a short description of some of the 
early business men whose energy and thrift put in motion 
the wheels of commerce and manufactures that to-day 
have developed into a power, whose influence is felt far 
and near through this broad land of ours. Ephraim 
Webster, from New Hampshire, who came here in 1786, 
was without doubt the first white settler. He built of 
logs the first store, where a few goods were kept for trade 
with the Indians. Webster was an important personage 
in our early history, and much has been written about 
him. The most complete account I have ever seen was 
published in the centennial edition of the Syracuse 
Evening Herald, September 1, 1886. Webster was of 



TO A CITY. l8l 

much service to the early inhabitants; in fact, it was 
through his influence with the Indians that the first set- 
tlers were permitted to make homes here. He was on 
the most friendly terms with the Indians, understanding 
their language; and, in many ways, was of the greatest 
assistance to the early settlers in establishing peaceful 
relations with the savages. Webster's services had been 
of great value to the government, for which he drew a 
pension. He was a man who never knew fear nor danger 
and acted as a spy when we were at war with England. 
His knowledge of the language and customs of the 
Indians, together with his pretense of being a half-breed, 
gave him an advantage as a spy by which he entered 
their lines and returned with the most valuable informa- 
tion. At one time he swam across Lake Champlain at 
night, a distance of three miles, at the imminent risk of 
his life, carrying dispatches that enabled our forces to 
concentrate, by which an important victory was achieved. 
So great were the services he rendered to the State of 
New York that, as a token of acknowledgment, the State 
delivered to him, on the 12th of April, 1796, a warranty 
deed of 640 acres of the beautiful Onondaga valley. His 
house was built near the centre of his mile square, and is 
still standing within half a mile of the postomce at the 
Valley, on the farm now owned by Mr. Bostwick. Mr. 
Webster died while on a trading excursion with the Sene- 
cas in 1825, and was buried at Tonawanda. Miland C. 
Taylor and Sidney Dole purchased the mill in 1814 and 
built the first store in Syracuse. In 181 7 Northrup & 
Dexter took a large contract on the canal and purchased 



1 82 FROM A FOREST 

the store of Taylor & Dole, where they continued until 
the canal contract was completed in 182 1. Henry New- 
ton made his appearance here in 1824 and engaged in 
the grocery business on Water street, about midway be- 
tween Salina and Warren streets. Newton was a genial, 
good-natured man, and soon made many friends; but he 
was too vacillating to accumulate wealth. As soon as he 
had secured a good trade he changed his business to that 
of boots and shoes. At one time he rented the corner 
store in the old yellow building on the corner of Warren 
and Water streets, where John Mann's tea store is now 
located. Mr. Newton fitted up this place for an auction- 
room, and on the Water street side he put in a wide door, 
opening it outward and fastening it back to the outside 
of the building, where it much resembled a barn door. By 
this means during auction sales the whole corner was 
thrown open to the street. One day a customer was 
brought to this store in a way never before known. In 
those days cattle, hogs and geese roamed at will in the 
village. A lordly bull, whose disposition was far from 
being amiable, was walking over Warren street bridge to 
take a stroll through Hanover Square. The drive and 
sidewalk on the bridge was divided by a tight board par- 
tition. An Irish woman was walking from James street 
across the bridge a little in advance of the bull. As 
soon as he espied her he made a bound and picked her 
up on his horns, upon which she was so nicely poised 
that she was carried along with great rapidity. The 
animal, being blinded with the skirts of her dress, ran 
into Newton's store and, falling over some dry-goods 



TO A CITY. 183 

boxes, landed his passenger in the centre of the store. 
The woman, although nearly frightened to death, was 
only hurt from the fall upon the floor. 

Haskell & Walbridge were the first saddlers and har- 
ness makers, locating here in 1824. This same year the 
first jeweler, Hiram Judson, commenced business here, 
continuing for many years, and in 1847 he was elected 
Justice of the Peace, having his office in the west wing of 
the Empire Block. It was believed by some that his 
decisions favored the plaintiff as far as possible. John 
Wilkinson was the first lawyer, locating here in 1819. 
The first physician was Dr. Swan, coming here in 1807. 
While the canal was being dug sickness was so prevalent 
that Dr. Bassett came to assist, their successor being 
Dr. Colvin, whose life labors were in Syracuse. Later, 
in 1824 Dr. M. Williams and Dr. Day came here. Benja- 
min Rector was said to have been the first cartman. In 
the winter of 1834 he drew a load of salt to Pennsylvania, 
returning with two tons of coal, which he sold for $28. 
It was said to have been the first coal in our market. 
The first German to make a home in Syracuse was 
Andrew Fesenmyer. The first Irish family was that of 
John Savage, father of the late Richard Savage. The 
first Scotchman was Boyd, the hermit. The first French- 
man was a Mr. Lewis, who lived here when the name was 
Cossett's Corners. The first colored man was Isaac Wales. 

GROWTH OF THE VILLAGE. 

An idea of the growth of the village of Syracuse, for 
the first ten or fifteen years of its existence, may be 
gained from the following statements: In 1820 there 



184 FROM A FOREST 

was a scattering population of 250 inhabitants; a village 
charter was applied for and passed the Legislature April 
13, 1825, with the usual powers granted to villages when 
chartered. The first meeting for the election of officers 
of the village of Syracuse was held at the school-house 
in said village, May 3, 1825, at which Joshua Forman 
was elected President ; Amos P. Granger, Moses D. Bur- 
net, Herman Walbridge and John Rogers, Trustees ; 
James Webb, Alfred Northum and Thomas Spencer, As- 
sessors; John Wilkinson, Clerk; John Durnford, Treasurer; 
Daniel Gilbert, Justice of the Peace, presiding. In 1 830 the 
population was 2,565, but the increase in population and 
business was greater after that date. That same year 
the Onondaga County Bank was chartered, giving life 
and confidence to business, the bank being located in 
the east wing of the Syracuse House. During the three 
years following, the population had increased 1,200. 1834 
was a year of decided progress in the appearance of the 
village, notwithstanding it had suffered from a destruc- 
tive conflagration which had destroyed many stores, yet 
happening, as it did, early in the season, allowed of re- 
building with much finer blocks. At this time the Frank- 
lin buildings were completed; by this means both 
sides of Hanover Square presented a row of four-story 
buildings which, in those days, were considered attractive 
structures. In 1834 there were fifty-five stores opened 
for trade, as follows: 22 grocery and provision stores, 
16 variety stores, 2 hardware stoies, 4 clothing stores, 
5 boot and shoe stores, 4 drug stores, 2 book stores, 
3 printing offices, 3 silver-smiths, 2 flouring mills, 1 lum- 



TO A CITY. 185 

ber mill, 1 planing mill, 3 tin shops, 3 furnace and ma- 
chine shops, 2 carriage shops, 3 cabinet shops, 2 leather 
manufactories, 1 morocco manufactory, 1 soap and can- 
dle manufactory, 1 distillery, 1 brewery, 3 marble yards, 
1 boat yard, 15 salt blocks, 1 Episcopal church, 1 Metho- 
dist church, 1 Baptist church, 2 lyceums. There were 
also sixteen lawyers and eleven physicians. In 1834 the 
fire department was much improved, as the great destruc- 
tion of property by fire in that year was an impressive 
lesson of the folly of constructing costly buildings with 
no means to protect them from the flames. Previous to 
this date the facilities for extinguishing fires were of the 
simplest and most primitive kind. Most of the depend- 
ence was to form a line of men from the fire to the 
nearest water supply, when buckets of water were passed 
from one man to another, until the last man in the line 
threw it upon the fire. As a curiosity I will here pro- 
duce an ordinance which was passed by the trustees for 
the purpose of protection : 

" June 23, 1S31. And be it further ordered that the owner of 
every dwelling house, store or shop in said village, shall procure and 
keep at his, her, or their house, store or shop, the following number 
of good leather buckets to be used for extinguishing fires, viz: every 
dwelling house having one smoke, shall have one fire-bucket, and 
every additional smoke shall have an additional fire-bucket, which 
bucket shall be of good quality and marked with the owner's name. 
In case of neglect or refusal to comply shall forfeit the sum of $1." 

1839 was an eventful year in consequence of the com- 
pletion of a line of railroads so essential to the growth of 
a town. The first train of cars arrived in Syracuse from 
the east over the Syracuse & Utica road in that year. 



I 86 FROM A FOREST 

The locomotive "Syracuse " drew the first train of cars 
out of the old depot over the Auburn road on the 4th of 
June of the same year. The first telegraphic message 
was received from Albany in 1846. The first levy for 
taxes after the village charter was $250; the first levy 
after the city charter was $23,441; the last levy (1888) 
was $537,000. The least number of votes cast at any 
election was 56, which occurred in 1826; the greatest 
number was 15,026, at the election in 1888. 

THE LOCATION OF THE COURT HOUSE. 

Probably no other county in the State has had so much 
dispute over the location of its county seat as our own. 
Onondaga Valley, Onondaga Hill, Salina and Syracuse 
have all in their early days been earnest competitors for 
its location. To give an account of all the spirited de- 
bates and shrewd schemes employed by each would 
fill a volume. A brief account can only be given, and 
that confined mostly to the part Syracuse has taken in 
the matter. The history of the locating and erecting 
these county buildings is such that it seems necessary 
to commence at the beginning, which ante-dates my re- 
collections by many years. I know of no authentic 
records relating thereto. There have been newspaper 
articles published at various times, the writers of which 
are unknown to me, and from this source, and accounts 
verbably given me by the early settlers of Syracuse, a 
part of the information is gained by which this account 
is written. The first courts were held in Onondaga 
Valley in barns, corn-houses and dwellings of the first 
settlers as early as 1794. When the population of the 



TO A CITY. 187 

county had increased in numbers and had sufficient 
wealth to build a court house, there was much strife be- 
tween the dwellers on the Hill and in the Valley as to 
where it should be located. The arguments of the people 
at the Valley were, that their location was every way 
more desirable than the Hill for the county buildings; 
that the clerk's office was already there, and that it 
should not be removed without some good reason. 
Those living on the hill succeeded, however, in getting a 
bill passed, April 7th, 1801, empowering the Board of 
Supervisors to raise the sum of $3,000 to erect a court- 
house and jail at the Hill. This amount was insufficient 
to complete the buildings, and other sums were raised 
from time to time for that purpose. In 1803 the first 
court was held in the new building, before it had been 
completed. The salt interest of Salina had attracted to 
that place a sufficient number of inhabitants to organize 
in 1824 under a village charter. Although Syracuse was 
the smaller of the two, yet it was but one year and one 
month later in securing a village charter. The canal was 
then nearly completed, and this gave Syracuse a great 
advantage over its rivals, as its situation on the line of 
navigation through the State attracted men of wealth 
here to make investments. The Walton tract had been 
purchased by the Syracuse Company, which was com- 
posed of some of the best business men in the State, who 
for purposes of speculation had located here and become 
owners of a large tract of land, upon which, if possible, 
they were determined to lay the foundations of a flourish- 
ing town. They proceeded to rebuild the Syracuse 



1 88 FROM A FOREST 

House, making it one of the finest hotels in this part of 
the State. Their lands were laid out in village lots, with 
energetic agents to boom them. The company at once 
saw that upon the growth of Syracuse depended the 
value of their investments. They were therefore deter- 
mined not to let any advantages slip through their hands, 
if possible to prevent it, and they, believing that great 
benefits would arise from the location at Syracuse of the 
county seat, all energy was centered in an effort to bring 
that about. The jealousy that had ever existed between 
Salina and Syracuse seemed at this period to be at its 
height. They watched each other's movements with the 
closest scrutiny. The people of Salina claimed that their 
village was the largest, and more business was done there 
than in any of the other villages in this vicinity, and for 
those reasons if the county seat was removed from the 
Hill it should be located in Salina. Meanwhile the 
people at the Hill became greatly excited over these 
plots to deprive them of the only interest that gave some 
little importance to their village. At that time a large 
part of the legal talent of the county was located there, 
and frequent meetings were held to prevent if possible 
the removal. B. Davis Noxon, in a speech at one of 
these meetings, advocated the raising of a sufficient sum 
to put the buildings in perfect repair, and by this course 
it could be made to appear that there was no necessity 
for a removal, and a large expense could be saved the 
county by this means. The advocates of removal had 
the advantage, as it was apparent to all disinterested 
parties that the old buildings had been constructed on 



TO A CITY. 189 

such a plan that it would be folly to expend more 
money in the hope of making them comfortable, or 
even of decent appearance. They were built when 
the inhabitants were living on their new farms which 
had to be cleared from forest trees before a crop 
could be raised, and nearly all were too poor to pay any 
taxes that could possibly be avoided. Under such con- 
ditions the first court-house and jail were built. So 
scarce was money at that time that a "bee" was made, to 
which nearly all the inhabitants turned out and cleared 
the trees away for a place to lay the foundation for the jail. 
The buildings had been built by piece-meal, from time 
to time as money could be raised. The foundation walls 
of the jail were several feet high, upon which the build- 
ing was constructed. These walls were laid in mortar 
without a crevice for an air passage, and this large space 
was used for a vault, into which all the filth of the prison 
was deposited. There was not a drain nor even a venti- 
lator carried above the roof. To imprison human beings 
in such a place was nothing less than barbarous. So 
great and unceasing was this nuisance that it was obviated 
by indictment by the Grand Jury; but ever after the 
county buildings at the Hill were in disrepute and fur- 
nished an argument to the advocates for their removal to 
another locality. Onondaga Hill had enjoyed for more 
than twenty years the honor of being the county seat, 
and an effort had been made to elect Supervisors from 
each of the towns who were favorably inclined towards 
building a new court-house at that place. Accordingly, 
in 1826, at a meeting of the Supervisors, a resolution was 



I90 FROM A FOREST 

passed to present a bill at the next meeting of the Legis- 
lature asking the passage of a bill empowering the Super- 
visors of Onondaga county to levy a tax for the purpose 
of building a new court-house at the Hill. This resolu- 
tion was brought before the Legislature as early as Janu- 
ary, 1827. The people at the Hill had instructed Daniel 
Mosely, their representative, who was a lawyer then re- 
siding at the Hill, to look after their interest in the mat- 
ter, as he was personally interested. When it became 
known that the initiatory step had been taken to rebuild, 
Moses D. Burnet, John B. James, and a few others, met 
at the office of the Syracuse Co., taking care that the out- 
side parties should not be advised of their movements. 
Mr. Burnet was made chairman, and on taking the chair 
stated that the object of the meeting was consultation 
upon the best course to be pursued in order to defeat all 
other competitors for the location of the court-house, and 
to establish the county seat at Syracuse. After the most 
careful deliberation of this body of able schemers, it was 
resolved that a sufficient number of capable canvassers 
should be placed in every town in the county, to obtain 
the signatures of as many tax-payers as possible, petition- 
ing the Legislature to establish the court-house at Syra- 
cuse. So effectually was this plan carried out that a can- 
vass of the whole county was made before the opposition 
could take measures to counteract it. The petitions of 
a large majority of the tax-payers of the county, praying 
that the court-house might be located at Syracuse, came 
pouring in at Albany until the legislative halls were de- 
luged with them. The consideration of the bill was 



TO A CITY. I9I 

postponed from time to time, and earnest speeches were 
made by several different members for and against its 
passage. Prominent among the latter were Mr. Living- 
stone and Mr. Mosley, but their speeches seemed more 
an appeal for sympathy than sound arguments. They 
claimed that many had located at the Hill because it 
was the county seat, and to remove now to another 
locality would be an injustice to that class. That the 
removal would be a greater damage to the people at the 
Hill than it would benefit Syracuse, as that place had 
other advantages, such as water power and the canal, 
while the location of the court-house on the Hill was 
their only attraction, and to remove it would create there 
an "eternal Sunday." Final action was reached on 
March 19, 1827, when the bill was passed to locate the 
county buildings at Syracuse. Much disappointment 
and dissatisfaction was expressed by those who desired 
its location at the Hill, and the usual complaints and 
charges were made of unfairness. The paper published 
at the Hill was violent in its denunciations of the Syra- 
cuse schemers who had crammed the lobby with active 
workers, and insinuated that money was freely used by 
them, believed to have been furnished by "John Bull" 
(a name sometimes applied to John B. James). June 3, 
1828, the Supervisors held a meeting at the Syracuse 
House to consider the many sites offered, but two of 
which claimed much attention. Syracuse demonstrated 
the enterprise of her leading citizens even at that early 
date by offers equivalent to $12,000. The agent of the 
Syracuse Company offered to give the whole of the block 



I92 FROM A FOREST 

upon which the Government building now stands, with 
the exception of the corner of Salina and Fayette streets, 
which had been previously given to the First Presby- 
terian Society. They also offered to give a lot on the 
corner of Warren and Fayette streets for a location for 
the jail. Gen. Amos P. Granger, in addition, offered to 
build a fire-proof building for a County Clerk's office, 
also one thousand dollars in cash to be used in construct- 
ing the court-house. It was thought by many that the 
larger part of Mr. Granger's offer was to have been fur- 
nished him by the Syracuse Company. The Company 
had perfect confidence that these offers would be suffi- 
cient to secure the location of the buildings in the centre 
of the village, and that the tax-payers of the county 
would most willingly acquiesce, as it would thus relieve 
them from so much of the burden. The sequel of this 
matter will show that these generous offers were rejected 
and a vastly inferior site was selected. Mr. Knapp, then 
Supervisor of the town of Salina, tendered to the county 
a tract of land owned by Dr. Kirkpatrick, bounded by 
Salina, Division, Townsend and Ash streets. The value of 
the offer, at that time, could not have been more than 
$2,000, which would leave Syracuse in the lead by 
$r 0,000, which, in those days, was considered a large 
sum. In making this offer on behalf of the town of 
Salina, Mr. Knapp delivered a speech which produced a 
greater effect on the Supervisors than the money offers. 
Mr. Knapp was a good speaker, being very persuasive in 
his effort on this occasion, the substance of his remarks 
being that he hoped the Supervisors would not decide 



TO A CITY. 193 

upon the matter before them without due consideration 
of its importance; that there was a deep feeling upon the 
subject, that the eyes of all the county were earnestly 
watching how the long and spirited controversy would 
be decided, and that he felt it his duty to impress upon 
each Supervisor the necessity of being able to give good 
reasons for his decision. He then referred to the many 
insinuations afloat about Syracuse using unfair means in 
getting the bill passed removing the county seat from the 
Hill, and should the large sum now offered by Syracuse 
be accepted, it would give great dissatisfaction to a large 
class from the Hill, who would say the almighty dollar 
had finally conquered over right and justice and given 
the location to Syracuse. He urged that the Salina 
claim be considered, because Salina was the larger, and 
more business was done there than in Syracuse. Mr. 
Knapp referred to the time-honored custom of splitting 
the difference in cases where parties could not agree ; he 
said Salina was fair and just, and was willing to divide 
tiie difference between them, by locating the buildings 
half way between the two places, on the lot he had ten- 
dered the Board. Mr. Knapp concluded with a strong 
argument that the acceptance of his offer would in the 
future benefit both places alike; thai Syracuse aided by 
the canal, and Salina by its salt interests, would both 
grow to places of importance, and at no distant day the 
petty jealousies now existing between the two places 
would be outgrown, when it would be for the interest of 
both villages to be included in one incorporated town, 
and that the location of the court-house half way between 
1.; 



194 



FROM A FOREST 



the two would be a great factor to bring about this 
much desired result. Mr. Knapp had hardly taken his 
seat before the Supervisor from Onondaga called for a 
vote, as he saw that the speech so forcibly made had pro- 
duced an effect upon the Board, which he did not wish 
to be lost by reflection, or allow the chance for other 
matters to come up. The vote was 8 to 6 in favor of 
locating on lot 276, half way between the two places. 
The result caused great rejoicing in Salina, as it was 
considered another victory over their rivals, but the care- 
ful and considerate people of Syracuse believed a great 
blunder had been made. At that time the buildings in 
that locality were of the poorer class, generally the homes 
of coopers, whose unattractive shops, with the litter of 
hoops and staves, lined the streets. On the west the 
smoke from the salt blocks filled the air, while to the 
east arose abrupt hills with deep gorges between them. 
Prospect hill, then nearly twice its present height, clothed 
in a thick growth of underbrush and tall forest trees, cast 
its shadow over the locality until a late hour in the morn- 
ing. Not a sidewalk in any direction was laid, and in 
rainy weather the mud seemed to be without bottom. To 
build the court-house in such a place seemed a crowning 
absurdity. To follow the history of the building to its 
completion would be interesting. The people at the 
Hill, seeking to avenge themselves for the removal, ham- 
pered and criticised every movement of the Building 
Committee, charging dishonesty and extravagance, until 
the tax-payers clamored so loudly that commissioners 
were appointed to investigate charges. The Building 



TO A CITY. 195 

Committee was sustained by the investigation. The 
court-house and jail were finished in a very substantial 
manner. The court-house was of brick, two stories in 
height, with a portico having four round columns, with 
elaborate capitals. The portico and columns were fin- 
ished to represent white marble. A dome surmounted 
the building, upon which a statute of liberty stood hold- 
ing in one hand the scales of justice and in the other a 
sword. The building was of fine appearance for those 
days, and could be seen the whole length of Salina street 
to the junction of Onondaga street. The finest view was 
from Salina street bridge. The first court was held there 
May 13, 1830, Judge Earl presiding. In those days it 
was quite common to place on court-house domes a 
figure of justice with her emblems. Some of the Build- 
ing Committee thought best to omit the figure, as there 
had been so many complaints of extravagance, but Mr. 
Archie Kasson, one of the committee, said that rather 
than leave it off he would furnish one at his own expense. 
His offer was accepted and the figure was placed on the 
dome. A few years later, while the court was engaged 
in a very exciting suit which had continued to fill the 
house for many days with interested listeners, the jury 
rendered a decision contrary to what nearly every one 
thought to be right and just, and great surprise and dis- 
satisfaction was the result. The most remarkable part of 
this affair was that the same day of the decision the scales 
in the hand of the goddess fell with a crash to the court- 
house roof. This, in connection with the verdict so much 
disapproved of, caused so much talk that some one with 



196 FROM A FOREST 

a poetical turn of mind, to give expression to his feelings, 
sent the following lines to one of the papers: 

The figure perched on court-house top, 

For justice (grace defend her) — 
Where judges, lawyers, clients stop, 

Looks like the Witch of Endor. 

Her scales by whirlwinds blown away, 

She stands with sword in hand — 
"Thus, justice now," she seems to say, 

"Is dealt throughout the land." 

The sign is right, upon my word ! 

In this peculiar day 
Justice is meted by the sword — 

The balance thrown away. 

The advantages expected to be derived by the location 
of the county buildings were never realized by the peo- 
ple of Salina or Syracuse, and it is doubtful if it was one 
dollar's benefit to the property adjoining, or to any indi- 
vidual, and ever after its completion there was one 
unceasing complaint in regard to its location. Away 
from the business part of each village, away from the 
lawyers' offices and the hotels, to reach court it necessi- 
tated a long walk over poor sidewalks and muddy streets. 
These inconveniences were endured for nearly twenty 
years, when, in 1847, a delegation consisting of James R. 
Lawrence, John Wilkinson and Peter Outwater met the 
board of Supervisors and presented strong reasons for 
the removal of the court-house to a more convenient site. 
No action was taken upon the subject, and it continued 
to be annually brought before the Board. In the mean- 



TO A CITY. 197 

time the project of building the penitentiary engaged the 
attention of the Supervisors, who agreed upon the loca- 
tion in 1850, and the building was completed in 1854. 
It was then thought the court-house matter would be 
speedily settled; but the Supervisors failed, from year to 
year, to agree, as a sufficient number was of the opinion 
that the expense should be saved to the county as long as 
there was so good a court-house. February 5, 1856, it 
burned to the ground; the torch of the incendiary had 
made a bonfire of a structure that had been nothing 
but a source of strife and dissatisfaction from its con- 
ception, and in its destruction there seemed not one to 
deplore its fate. Measures were at once taken to rebuild. 
The contract was awarded to Timothy C. Cheney and 
David Wilcox for the sum of $37,500. The Board of 
Supervisors in 1857 voted the acceptance, and declared 
the court-house completed in a very satisfactory manner, 
and for the first time in over a half century we had a 
court-house that every one was satisfied with. I feel that 
I must take this opportunity to speak of a fellow mechanic 
with whom I labored for years, to complete many of the 
old and substantial buildings that line the streets of our 
city. I think the present court-house was the last con- 
tract performed by Mr. Cheney as a builder. To his 
skill and ingenuity this temple of justice stands to-day as 
firm as the foundations of our granite hills, a lasting 
monument of my friend Cheney's integrity. I can say 
for a truth that during the many years of our acquaint- 
ance I never heard him spoken of only in the highest 
praise, nor did I ever hear of dissatisfaction with any 



198 FROM A FOREST 

work performed by him. The city owes him a debt of 
gratitude for the many years of faithful service performed 
by him in many capacities. As a Supervisor he was 
noted for his sound judgment, and was always prominent 
in the Board. He performed the difficult task of an 
Assessor for many years satisfactorily. 

THE CHARTER. 

In 1844 there was much activity in the village of Syra- 
cuse, and some enterprising citizens proposed asking for 
a city charter, as the village was of sufficient size; but 
the majority seemed indifferent. About the year 1846, 
however, the subject was renewed and the changing of 
the village to a city became quite popular. Well written 
articles appeared in the papers, describing the healthy 
growth of the place and advocating arrangements for 
procuring a city charter. In such an event it seemed 
necessary to include Salina and Syracuse under one mu- 
nicipal government. The animosity, jealousy and rivalry 
that had from the first existed between the two places 
still remained and seemed a severe hindrance in com- 
pleting the enterprise. To overcome the prejudices of 
the people on this subject, the strongest advocates for a 
charter proposed to include the towns of Salina, Liver- 
pool and Geddes, and this was strongly indorsed in the 
preliminary meetings. 

January 11, 1847, a meeting was held at the house of 
James Scott in Salina, for the purpose of considering the 
propriety of uniting with Syracuse in an application to 



TO A CITY. I99 

the Legislature for a city charter, a:id the following reso- 
lutions were adopted : 

Resolved that we will unite with the inhabitants of Syracuse in an 
application for a city charter to embrace the territory now included 
within the corporate limits of the two villages, on the following con- 
ditions, viz: That we compose a ward including all the territory in 
the village of Salina on the northwestern side of Union Place and 
Elm street to be set off and denominated the Salina Ward. That the 
location of the Bank of Salina is to remain in the Ward ; that the 
postoffice at Salina be not discontinued, nor the canal, nor salt offices 
removed from the Ward. 

These resolutions were presented at an adjourned meet- 
ing held at Market Hall, January 12, 1847. This meet- 
ing was called to decide upon the boundaries to be in- 
cluded in the charter. Much discussion resulted in but 
little being accomplished. Harvey Baldwin and George 
Stevens were prominent advocates for including Geddes 
and Liverpool. Mr. Baldwin made a strong and eloquent 
speech in favor of this measure. The most important 
matter accomplished was the adoption of the resolution 
of Dr. Lyman Clary, that the chair appoint a committee 
of thirteen to draft a charter and report at some future 
meeting, in addition to this, the following resolutions 
were offered by Oliver Teall, the faithful and ever watch- 
ful champion of temperance: 

Resolved that whether the annexation of Salina takes place or not, 
the inhabitants of the village of Syracuse will hold a day of public 
rejoicing, thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God as soon as that 
most debasing and degrading custom of furnishing wine at our social 
parties shall have taken its departure from our beautiful village, no 
more to spread its withering and deleterious influence through our 
community. 



200 FROM A FOREST 

This resolution was seconded by William B. Kirk, and 
carried unanimously. 

February 9, 1847, a most enthusiastic meeting was held 
to agree upon the boundaries of the proposed city. The 
tumult and excitement ran high, and those who proposed 
that the whole salt springs reservation be included were 
severely ridiculed. One speaker made a short sarcastic 
speech in which he said that he was opposed to having the 
future greatness of the city crippled by confining it within 
such cramped limits; he therefore proposed that "John 
Brown's tract" be included. The next speaker proposed 
an amendment, that "Cicero swamp" be substituted in 
place of "John Brown's tract." These speeches pro- 
duced the greatest hilarity among a part of the large 
audience, and for a few moments it seemed as if the 
meeting would result in failure. At this critical point 
Harvey Baldwin gained the floor and, feeling that the 
tide of merriment must be checked, delivered a speech 
that probably would have been modified under other cir- 
cumstances. He was listened to with marked attention. 
After describing the many advantages with which we 
were surrounded, the natural beauty of our hills and 
valleys and the rapid growth that we might expect from 
our natural advantages, the activity and energy of our 
inhabitants, he said: "Contemplate for a moment the city 
of Syracuse when she enters upon the next century with 
at least one hundred thousand inhabitants. Immense 
structures of compact buildings will, in every direction, 
cover this delightful plain, and every hill, knoll and swell 
of ground be occupied by some stately mansion or neat 



TO A CITY. 20 1 

cottage. All bordering territory will be brought into a 
high and perfect state of cultivation, and our beautiful 
lake, on all its shores and borders, will present to view 
continuous villas ornamented with shady groves and 
hanging gardens, and connected by a wide and splendid 
avenue that shall encircle its entire waters and furnish a 
delightful drive to the gay and prosperous of the town, 
who will, towards the close of the summer's day, throng 
it for pleasure, recreation or health. In every salt manu- 
factory that studs its shores will be seen the ponderous 
steam-engine breathing forth its heated vapor, and by the 
same power draw its rich treasures from the bowels of 
the earth, while it drives a thousand wheels and propels 
cotton, woolen and flouring mills, and all the varied 
machinery known to man. Then, too, will be seen the 
magnificent steamers of the ocean and of our inland seas 
arriving and departing, or lying at our extended wharves 
receiving or discharging their well-assorted cargoes, and 
everywhere will be heard the hum of the busy, thrifty 
and happy people. On yonder hill will be seen the 
gilded dome of the massive and stately Capitol, and pin- 
nacles and spires towering from the plain in every direc- 
tion, pointing their shafts toward heaven as emblems of 
the faith of those who worship beneath. Deem me not 
extravagant. I speak of things as they are and are to be. 
This is not a fancy sketch, but a slight penciling, an im- 
perfect, dim shadowing forth of the future." The earnest 
and attractive style of Mr. Baldwin's speech added much 
to the effect upon his audience; he was at least an 
hour in its delivery. I have only given sufficient to show 



202 FROM A FOREST 

the flight of his imagination concerning the future. His 
predictions of the number of our inhabitants at the com- 
mencement of the next century will not be overestimated, 
but some of his predictions will never be realized. 

The adjourned meeting was held on the 17th of Feb- 
ruary, when the committee of thirteen presented their 
report, which was: "That in the opinion of this com- 
mittee, it is expedient that the villages of Salina and 
Syracuse be included in the boundaries of the city." A 
motion was made that the report be adopted, which was 
carried, and measures were at once taken to procure its 
passage. The old animosities between the two villages 
sprang into new life, and a sharp opposition resulted in 
petitions being sent to Albany opposing the charter, 
causing so much delay that a committee was sent to the 
Capitol to facilitate the passage of the bill if possible. 
On their return a meeting was called, which was attended 
by a large number of citizens, B. Davis Noxon being 
made chairman, and speeches were made by Baldwin, 
Pratt, Leavenworth, Clary and others. It was resolved: 
"As the deliberate sense of this meeting, that the Legis- 
lature be requested to enact the charter as reported to 
the Assembly by the committee of which the Hon. Mr. 
Henderson is chairman." After some delay the bill 
passed in the form originally drafted. An election was 
held January 3, 1848, in each village, Syracuse giving 
1,072 votes for a charter, and 771 opposed. Salina gave 
385 votes for a charter, and 39 opposed. The first char- 
ter election ever held in the city of Syracuse occurred on 
the first Tuesday in March, 1848. The Hon. Harvey 



TO A CITY. 



203 



Baldwin was elected Mayor, also eight Aldermen, two for 
each of the four Wards. At that date the population was 
a little over 15,000. 

CONCLUSION. 

According to the title of this book my task is finished. 
The forest has given place to a city. I have related so 
far as my knowledge extends, a history of the work and 
the workers who, with strong arms and willing hearts, 
laid the foundations of our beautiful city of to-day. That 
their names and works might not be forgotten, is my ex- 
cuse, if one is needed, for this book. Of the interest 
contained in this record, the reader alone is to decide. I 
have endeavored to be truthfull in my statements in re- 
gard to the events occurring in the early periods of our 
history. In speaking of men, I have desired to be just 
and impartial. Personal experiences, and a retentive 
memory, have been the source of most of the statements 
herein contained. The records of early events in Syra- 
cuse are few indeed, and the early settlers who are still 
with us are rapidly disappearing, taking with them that 
unwritten history which, in future years, would be of 
great interest to the people of Syracuse. I trust that in 
the future some abler pen than mine will take up the 
story, and will write of the growth and the glory of our 
modern Syracuse, when in the years to come, it will have 
filled the beautiful valley for miles to the south, with its 
paved streets lined with palatial dwellings and costly 
public structures, with their gilded domes glittering in 
the sunlight, when its greatness like ancient. Syracuse, 
shall be known to all the world. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Early History 8 

The Name 15 

The Old Red Mill 24 

The Empire House 28 

Syracuse House and vicinity 31 

Corner of James and Salina Streets 50 

West Water Street to Clinton Street 53 

Corner of West Genesee and Clinton Street 56 

Powder Explosion 5g 

Early History of Business on Salina St. from Water St. South... 63 

The Old Depot 71 

The West side of South Salina Street between Washington and 

Fayette 75 

Vanderbilt Square to Fayette Street 78 

South Salina Street from Fayette to Onondaga 80 

Encroachment on Salina Street 91 

The North side of Water St. between Salina and Warren Sts. . 98 

East Genesee Street 102 

South side of Washington Street between Warren and Mont- 
gomery Streets 114 

Early History of the Site of the City Hall 122 

Corner of Lock and Water Streets 125 

The Hermit 129 

The Streets of Syracuse 133 

Groves and Forest Trees 137 

Onondaga Creek and other Streams 145 

Onondaga Lake 152 

The Epidemic and Endemic Diseases in the Village of Syracuse. 159 

Early Business Men 180 

Growth of the Village 183 

The Location of the Court House 186 

The Charter 198 



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